PPGD: The Chronometal Panic
by Birdofterror
Summary: (Story 2 in the Chronometal Universe) "For the sake of tomorrow..." - Dexter, self appointed "hero." These are words he told himself even as he performed some of the most horrible actions he's ever witnessed. As the world turns their back on him, he forgets what it means to feel empathy, and thinks only with cold logic. The world is panicking and in their outbursts, Dexter broods.
1. Panic Prologue

**Credit Note:** _Use of the basic world and several of the characters within such as Bell for example are credited to Bleedman. The use of Barasia is credited to Griddles. The use of Mekel is credited to Eclipse02. The use of the base characters such as Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, Dexter and the like are credited to Cartoon Network and their subsidiaries and creators such as Craig Mcracken and others._

* * *

Story 2: The Chronometal Panic  
Prologue: Unanimous

Ten chairs, surrounding a large desk filled with many important looking files, are all filled by politicians, soldiers and scientists.

They all look around to each other and to the report in their hands, seemingly out of breath. One man, seemingly the leader of this get-together gets out of his chair and nears the large screen on the far wall.

He enters a disk into a device and images display across the board in 3 dimensions. He turns to address the men with a stern look on his face.

"Gentlemen. The reports we received one year ago tipped us to a possible terrorist attack. I believe I speak for all of us when I say, this was no mere terrorist attack and no-one saw it really turned out to be; coming." The men in the chairs fidget around, either out of fear or anticipation. The leader continues.

"Almost the entire City of Megaville was wiped out during the past 48 hours by- this." The images switch to a three dimensional picture of World's End. "A... floating base of operations for the Knights- a group of people, once our own citizens, who betrayed their country and killed countless people over the span of only a year." The leader coughs into a fisted hand before continuing.

"We don't have as many details as we would want, due in part to the work of one of the Knight's insurgents killing off all of our scouting parties. All we have is witness testimony and a few photographs." One of the men in the circle speak up. "Sir, what happened to the base, Sir?"

The picture changes again, this time to what looks like a group of children. "We have nothing concrete, but these individuals are what happened to the base." - "Sir, with all due respect, these are just children, Sir!" - "Need I remind you of the roster of most of the Knights, soldier? Kids. Children. Freaks of nature are what nearly destroyed an entire City!"

The leader points his finger at each individual kid. "We have learned most of their names and their ages. Not a single one of them is above the age of eighteen and only one of them are human." The men in the circle start talking amongst each other, others completely silent. "Quiet!" He orders, obliged quickly.

One of the scientists rise from their chair and addresses the captain. "Captain, uhh- sir! What do you mean that only one of them are human? ... uh- sir!" - "At ease, professor. For this occasion only, I will accept that only my men call me, Sir. Cut the pleasantries and speak your... science speak."

He looks around the table, all other nine men are under him, the only one outside his jurisdiction is the scientist. He smirks slightly. "Almost one hundred years ago, the emergence of 'super-humans' was opened to the public. Some used their powers against civilization- possibly for selfish gain, while others believed in Humanity and sided with us. These are some of those freaks of nature."

"Sir... uh, I mean... *cough* Didn't you mention that one of them WAS human?" The captain takes out an extendable pointer and thrusts it to the only male party member. "This young man, I'm sure all of you know." The people in the chairs look around to each other in confusion. "No? How about now." He flicks a switch and the picture changes to a young red haired man in a lab-coat.

Small gasps and words flood the room quietly. "Wait, Sir- I MEAN... *sigh* Isn't that Dexter? Don't we work in joint operations with him all the time for the good of the world?" The leader crosses his arms behind his back and sighs. "He was once a great asset to our great country, but disturbing pictures, evidence and testimony prove that he is no longer on the side of Humanity."

"Can you be more specific, Captain?" He raises an eyebrow before switching the picture back to the entire group. "Look what two of the five are wearing. It looks like a suit of armor, right?" - "You mean, Dexter? He is wearing a suit of... armor? Was it one of his many inventions?" - "Over 90% of our info says that it is not, however, the majority have garbled rumors that it was once his- but it was stolen by the Knights and remade to look like that."

The captain continues after changing the picture to an in depth view of Model D. "According to not-so-detailed rumors we patched together, this was originally some sort of girl-android." The scientist looks deeply at the Metal, specifically at the hair and joints. "Sir...?" The captain looks over to the scientist. "Do you remember Dexter's family?" - "Hmm... I remember his parents clearly, but I do recall him having a sister, though I know little of her. Why?"

"Look at the hair... and the legs, captain." The captain pauses as he looks around the image in 3 dimensions. A few of the men in the chairs fidget as they look themselves, but none of them are saying anything. "It looks a lot like... Deedee, Dexter's sister." The captain looks at the scientist, before he looks back at the Image. "Hmmm..." He mumbles to himself. "Interesting, but how is this useful to us, professor?" He asks with high expectations.

"Well, sir; you said the Knights finalized this Armor, yes? What if- and bear with me. What if they made it look like his sister on purpose?" - "Meaning?" - "Well, what if they threatened to do something to her? If Dexter was working with them, what if it was to save his sister?" The captain looks around the room. "Before I answer that, before this briefing, one of you Men wanted to give me a certain document pertaining to something related to this?"

One of the men rises from his chair in salute. "Sir, yes, sir!" He picks up a file and walks to the captain. "Thank you, return to your post." After a small exchange of formalities the captain reads the file. After a short duration he lowers from the stand and hands the file to the scientist. "W-what is it? ... ..." The captain says nothing and returns to the stand.

The scientist sighs and the captain addresses the entire room. "What was in that file clarified Dexter's sister's relationship with this armor. A few years ago, Dexter was in a horrible battle with one of his lifelong rivals, Susan 'Mandark' and it ended in his sister's death." The scientist puts the file down and speaks up. "Wasn't Mandark also working for the government?" - "Yes, but they both mortally despised each other and shortly after this accident- Mandark never showed his face here again."

The captain changes the picture to show a low definition picture from 1 year ago labeled 'The first crash.' The scientist gulps as the picture comes on screen and the captain looks at him, they both know what's about to be said. "The file pertained to the unfortunate insanity of Susan 'Mandark' which led to his incarceration to a mental facility where a couple years ago, he inexplicably disappeared from."

He raises his pointer to a far away 'thing' in the picture. "This picture was taken after what was called 'The first war' after Megaville was being suspended in mid-air. The being you see in here is none-other than Mandark, wearing yet another piece of armor." - "Captain, This file also speaks about Mandark's death a few years ago, almost all rumors point to him both being dead and being in the wars. What does this mean?"

The captain sighs. He changes the picture again, to a snapshot of three people in military armors. "Almost 2 years ago, we caught wind of what we initially thought was a terrorist plot and we dispatched what was to be a top-secret mission to the undergrounds of Megaville. What we found was a labyrinth that was specifically protected against scanning technology that was in the works for over twenty years."

He changes the picture to what looks like a factory and continues. "What they eventually found out was this was initially a base for the Knights, where they constructed machines that were used in the 'First War.' There was a gigantic machine known primarily as 'M' or 'Malignancy' to the Knights. Even though their words made no logical sense, this is what they picked up on a spying mission."

The captain leaves the stand and turns off the projector before activating a sound device. Voices surround the room.

"... ... *Kchrrrk...* ... *Pshshhhhht*"

Quiet girl's voice: "How much longer before he comes back?"  
Commanding man's voice: "This is still phase one, those three are wreaking havoc in our base, it could take weeks for it to reach full power unless we do something."  
Deep man's voice: "What are we waiting for? Let's initiate phase two!"  
Commanding man's voice: "Not yet, Malignancy is not at full power, yet. They are primarily guerrilla based right now, if they keep up their ineffective efforts... we will reach the desired power in less then a day."  
Loud woman's voice: "So let's just kill them already!"  
Commanding man's voice: "They are far too powerful as of right now. If we can activate some of our machines, we can attack them upfront."  
Quiet girl's voice: "Can't we just use Mandark himself? He's far from defenseless."

A few people in the room gasp as the audio continues.

Commanding man's voice: "Their power may yet be enough to stop Malignancy in its current state, I would not activate it unless we are 100% ready."  
Loud woman's voice: "So what's the plan, Boss?"  
*Short pause.*  
Commanding man's voice: "Unfortunately, It is very likely that those three are feeding information to the military, we must commence phase two soon... Regardless of our preparation. I've already picked a location to set it in."  
Quiet girl's voice: "Damn those people... can't they see what we are doing? I will never forgive them if they kill Susan. If they even TRY to hurt my brother, they are DEAD!"

The men start talking amongst each other quietly.

The captain turns off the audio device and returns to the stand and activates a picture of what looks like a mechanical volcano at first glance, but seems to have extremities; arms and a head.

"The audio cut off there and we lost information on the three until a few days after that transmission. What you see here was the aforementioned 'Malignancy'. This picture was taken the day before the three lost contact with us indefinitely. On that same day, Dexter contacted us mentioning that there was a large energy surge on the outskirts of Megaville right before it came under attack by robots."

"What does all of this mean, Captain? What does Mandark, or even DEXTER have to do with any of this?" The captain shakes his head and turns the picture one again to one of the Chronometal Model D.

"Although I hate to even mention this mumbo-jumbo, almost all of the survivors from the crash at the 'second war' mention that the Powerpuff girls and Dexter constantly referred to the Armors as "Soul cases" or something like it. Apparently, Mandark was something called 'Model M' and it brought him back from the dead and created what was eventually called Malignancy."

He shakes his head before continuing. "What's more, the survivors mention that the machine that nearly destroyed the city this time was ALSO called Malignancy and was ALSO called Model M, who is in this case- the dead spirit of Susan 'Mandark' Astronomonov." - "H-How can we take any of this as fact?" - "The proof is in the pudding, Professor."

He switches the picture to one that shows a Small girl in a black dress. "Our own men dispatched mentioned a girl, roughly around the age of thirteen, give or take- was mentioned by multiple citizens by the name of Lynn. Our own men saw her take on machines that not even a hundred people could hope to tackle- on her own and without breaking a sweat."

"W-Well aren't the Powerpuff girls that strong too?" - "Hardly, she is roughly 300% stronger then the Powerpuff Girls... or at least she was at one point." - "Well, what does she prove?" - "We have multiple mentions that state that she was the one who started all of this." - "What?"

"We have multiple sources that claim to of eavesdropped on her conversations with the group of heroes, mostly with one "Bubbles" of the Powerpuff girls that mention her starting all of this and being called the 'Black Mother.' Our men support this information with multiple witnesses claiming giant mechanical worms recognized her as "The Black Mother" and returning to their base."

The scientist sits down and thinks to himself...

"The Powerpuff Girls knew of this all along. The Knights even mention the 'Black Mother' as the underlying Cog behind their master plan and she was the original creator of Model M, better known as Malignancy. They not only harbored the criminal who nearly destroyed the city, but they helped her do it too!"

The scientist gulps as the situation goes on, fearing the captain's next words.

"This girl created Model M for the Knights, who killed countless people through the span of two years, nearly destroyed the city and they continue to roam other cities with these abominable 'Chronometals' of theirs and now we have reports that a Gigantic Model M is in the south pole, attacking all forts stationed there, the entire continent was abandoned and we have reports of South America and Australia coming under attack from 'Unknown Beings.'"

He turns off the projector and walks to the end of the stand.

"We all know what must be done with these, terrorists. They are harboring criminals and they are responsible for the construction of the south pole Model M! They are planning on world Domination and it is up to us to stop them!"

"What is it... you are planning, captain...?" The scientist lets out sheepishly. "We must track down and Kill these freaks of nature before they can cause any more damage to the world!" - "W-What?! That's insane! We have no solid proof they have done anything!" The captain looks at the scientist.

"How about... numbers, mister scientist? Over two million 'confirmed' deaths have been registered in the southern hemisphere from these unknown assailants in under a week, countless millions unknown. We have proof of what Model M is and of what Model D is. It is obvious they are planning to take over the world, or something even MORE sinister."

"This is madness! You can't just say that they all must die! We have to take a vote and it MUST be unanimous as the rules of this circle state!" - "You are right, professor. All those in favor of bringing the freaks to justice, say I."

The entire room excluding the scientist yell out 'I' as if they were programmed.

"All those appose?" - "NAY!" He yells out. "Then it's settled, the freaks die." - "W-What?! I said NAY! It was not unanimous!" - "Really? The nine of nine, 100% say otherwise." - "But... There's ten...!" The captain pulls out a gun.

"NO WAIT-" He screams in futility as the trigger is pulled and he collapses to the ground, the men around stare blankly at the bloody actions of their ranking officer. "As I said. Unanimous... they die."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Well this is the start of the second story of the Chronometal saga. The events that took place in the First War, Second War, and what is later to be known as the "Second War Renaissance" have led a lot of leading officials to place blame on heroes involved in the war. Thus begins the next story. The Panic is, at its core, probably one of the shorter stories in the Chronometal Saga, but it's very non-linear. In fact later on you will get a chance to perform a kind of 'choose your own adventure' thing with the story as it branches into 3 very different directions._


	2. Chapter 1: Shared Pain

A hoarse gale blows across the fearful air. The entire planet has been put on alert like it never has before- the end is a stone's throw away... and crawling ever closer.

Model M, known to the public as the 'Planetary Malignance' levels city after city in its never-ending quest to destroy.

A sonic Boom is heard in the distance, and before long- the statue of the redeemer is eclipsed by 4 heroes.

"We didn't get a lot of time to prepare. But here it is, our first time in action against this 'new' enemy." - "It sucks that we get the ENTIRE western hemisphere while ALL the other heroes take the others." - "This isn't time for that, Buttercup, we've got company." She fires off ahead. "Hey, Blossom! WAIT!" She follows quickly. The 2 remaining heroes shrug and fly down.

A very large barricade is in place from every major western power. Should this wall fall, the momentum the enemies would pick up would be nearly unstoppable. The group's only male member strikes the ground next to the American sergeant near the blockade.

"Any info on the enemies?" - "Ah, Dexter. Good timing. We don't have too much information, they are moving so fast and viciously that we can only get satellite data. They seem to be small ground-bound machines that target any signs of humans. Camps, cities, everything."

A local law enforcement shows up and coughs as he tries to speak to the sergeant. "Sir, there are... THINGS outside Rio! They will be here very soon! Hundreds, THOUSANDS!" - "Well that's what we expected. This city is the largest within thousands of miles, these scum would flock here like flies to shit. That's why we are here- that's why THEY are here." He pats Dexter on the shoulder. "We are counting on you, Dexter!"

"Girls, we are moving out- they are close!" - "Well, at least this will be fun, even if we have to do EVERYTHING here." The four fly off to the south, and it is not long before they witness the writhing mob. Still in mid-air, the blue one speaks up to Dexter. "I forget... why isn't... uh- Barasia here again?" - "She had personal things to take care of, a lot of them. We wont hear from her for a while."

"And we're live!" Buttercup exclaims as she dives into the mass. "Be careful Butter-" - "DAMMIT I'M IMMORTAL AND PISSED! I'LL DO WHAT I WANT!" She roars as she tears the machines to bits. "Be careful Bubbles, we are with you!" Blossom reassures her before she too- dives into the mass. "Just be sure to collect a few souvenirs, you don't want to be the only one left out, do you?" Dexter jests as he crashes into a mob as if they were bowling pins.

"You guys...!" She fumes as she is the only one left above the hoard. "Ngh!" She closes her eyes and rips into the robots!

" 'Scuse me!" - "Coming through!" - "Ten one shot, Eleven one shot..." - "Ahh!" They all mutter to themselves as they seem to turn this catastrophe into a little game.

Whatever machines make it through are made short work of at the gigantic wall, no REAL threat yet. But they can't help but think what smaller, unguarded towns are like. They cannot be everywhere at once, and this is the best they can do...

"HSSSSSSSS!" The machines blare out as they try- in vain, to strike any of the 4 heroes only to be taunted and eviscerated. "See? This- whoa- isn't so bad. Hehe..." Buttercup lets out as she nimbly dodges attack after attack. Until that is- one lands a glancing blow, drawing blood. "YOUSONOFA-" She seethes as she rips it to shreds, taking its comrades with it.

"This isn't much, but at least I won't get rusty..." Dexter sighs out as he parries and disembowels the machines with break-neck speed. "Or... maybe I will..." He says as he nearly yawns.

"If it's THAT mind-numbing, try making it harder. Take on- oh I don't know... A hundred at a time!" Blossom yelps out as she corrals the machines into a large ball. "Nope, still easy. Oh well." She huffs as the machines explode on a moment's notice.

"You all make it- AHH- seem so easy!" Bubbles states as she delivers precise- but slow attacks on the machines. One by one, they fall. And one by one, she flies back up to find a safe target. "Muhh..." She blubbers.

(===)

"We got a... disturbing message from HQ... you might want to look at it yourself." The private hands his commanding officer a note from the machine. As he reads it, his face slowly descends into one of disbelief. "This... can't be right- I won't do it." - "I know what you mean Sergeant, but look at the clearance code. It's the top, Sir."

"DAMN!" He yells flatly as he bangs on the wall. "How can they Expect us to-" - "What if they are right? What if they DID do what they say?" - "Then how do you explain what they are doing now?" - "I can't. But HQ can, I assure you. Are you willing to forsake your job, your career over a friendship? Or are you going to trust your country?"

The sergeant eyes the private as if he were an enemy. "You would blindly obey this abomination of an order?!" - "Of course not, But that's not in my jurisdiction, I will file a complaint myself after this is done. We are here to make the hard decisions, Sergeant. Or have you forgotten?" - "I didn't forget... it's just... damn!" The ranking officer gnashes his teeth together, causing small noises to be heard from his mouth.

"I hereby promote you to Sergeant on the grounds that your Commanding Officer cannot follow his orders, and has lost the will to fight." He states enigmatically. "I... understand sir, I am sorry." The newly promoted sergeant rises and calls for other law enforcement to take away his formerly ranking officer. "He has deserted the fight, I call for a dishonorable discharge. Goodbye, and good luck..." He somberly nods as he is dragged out of the war-zone.

Now alone, he sighs as he picks up the hard-line to contact the cannon operators. "Did you get the notice too?" - "Yes, we are awaiting your orders." The new sergeant pauses for a small moment... "Fire at will..." - "Y-Yes sir..."

(=====)

Bits of machine lay strewn on the ground, steam and smoke rising from their wreckage. One tries to skitter away, before it is caught by a young man. "Where do you think you are go... ...!?" He trails off as he notices something ghastly under the Machine's insect form. Even through its constant hisses and clatters, he notices a small... bulge in its core.

"What... the... h-hell...?!" He stammers out. He digs into the bulge as the machine lets out one final cry and what He finds in it will possibly scar him for life, perhaps the most disturbing thing he has ever seen, even during his terrifying excursions into darkness and sin itself.

He merely looks at it in disbelief as the machine slowly dies. "K...ill... meeeEEEEE!"

The being he pulled out of the core was a young man, no older than 10, crying out in pain, bathed in blood and begging for death! Dexter disconnects the kid from the machine, only to feel him wrench in pain- as the last wire comes undone, he lets out a soft groan as all life leaves his form.

He gently places the boy on the ground, all color leaving Dexter's face. He walks over to another- dead machine. Upon opening it up, he nearly gags.

All of the machines he and his friends were killing seemingly for sport were none other then humans...

"Dexter, where are- oh, there you are. What are you do- ...?!" Blossom lets out, also stopped by the gravity of the situation. "Oh, my... g..." She says as she nearly expels on the spot. The being inside the robot rapidly decomposed with a terrified look on its face, the body is mutilated and filled with tubes and wires.

"How... what, I mean we... just- killed, them?! But... they were- ugh..." Blossom fumbles her words and thoughts as she tries to put things into perspective. "This is worse than we thought, Blossom." He rises and looks around the Battlefield. "There were thousands of these things and if they were all Humans... humans taken from other cities and villages Model M conquered... then that means we..."

He shakes his head. "I... don't know what to do, anymore... do we stop them like before?" - "We... have to, don't we? If we don't, MORE people will become like... like that. And besides, aren't the already dead?" Dexter gulps. "No, Blossom, they were alive until the instant we killed them."

*The 2 other heroes fly in a little later and are filled in on the situation...*

Bubbles is facing the wreckage, taking it all in, as Buttercup stands in the middle of the group, deep in thought. "So, Dexter... you are saying you, saw one of these people before he died?" Dexter nods somberly. "This can't change too much-" - "What are you saying, Buttercup?!" Bubbles lashes out with! "We can't just destroy them! There are people inside! We have to tell everyone!" - "Tell everyone to do what? Stop attacking them so that THEY can get corrupted too?"

Blossom interjects and pushes them both to the side. "Stop, Both of you. This is getting us nowhere. While I agree with Buttercup, these things are still more than a little dangerous and they must be stopped at all costs- I am more than inclined to agree that these are still living, breathing people. Killing them right off the bat would be... wrong..."

"So what do you suggest?" Both Buttercup and Bubbles ask. "I... don't know, yet. We need more information. Bubbles, fly above the battlefield and see if you can see a living specimen anywhere, you too Buttercup. Dexter and I will contact the professor and the Base and tell them what we saw." Everyone nods as they take their positions.

Bubbles squints as she views something far off in the distance. "Hey... what's that over there?" Dexter looks up at Bubbles and the direction she is facing. "That's the high power 'Meta-cannon' designed by the professor and I to be deployed here in case something huge came along." - "Oh... you designed it to look like a ball, that's odd." - "Well, it's spherical to spread impact, but it has a large protruding cannon." Dexter says as he pays no mind to Bubbles.

"Are you sure? I don't see any... oh wait, there it is. It's pointing in this direction so looking right at it made it look like it wasn't there." Dexter squints as if he is remembering something urgent, he looks back up to Bubbles. "Are you sure it's pointing at us?" - "Yeah, now that I know what I'm looking for, I can see the cannon pointing at the battlefield." Dexter shakes his head and Blossom walks over. "Didn't you say the cannon was too dangerous to have looking at the battlefield if we were on it?" - "Yes, that's exactly what Utonium and I forced the army to agree to if they constructed it."

Blossom looks over to Buttercup, who is pretty much indifferent to the boring situation. "Buttercup, can you go tell the people over there to turn the cannon away?" - "Sigh... FIIIIIINE." She drolls out boorishly.

But as soon as she starts flying off, a quaking noise fires off in the distance. "What the he-" - "BUBBLES!" Buttercup screams out as she intercepts the shot! She raises both of her arms to block the attack, but the large aptly designed round penetrates both of her arms and into- and then through her skull!

"BUTTERCUP!" Bubbles screams out, flying off to her, only to have another noise fire off in the distance, this time- hitting Bubbles!

Everyone stands in paralysis of the situation at hand.

The cannon Dexter and Utonium designed to destroy things much more powerful than themselves has fired upon them.

Buttercup falls to the ground with a gaping hole in her skull.

Bubbles falls to the ground with one less arm.

"No..." Blossom stammers with- baffled. She is so frightened that she cannot move.

"GHAAA!" Buttercup screams out, now having fully regenerated. "I AM GOING TO KI-" She yells out, before she notices Bubbles. "BUBBLES!" She flies off to her and catches her in her arms. Her eyes are closed, she is knocked out by the pain and shock of the situation. Buttercup's face loses all color as she realizes that Bubbles has only one arm.

Dexter breaks out of the stupor and clenches his fist and bares his fangs! "I AM GOING TO KILL THEM ALL!" He explodes out as he takes off beyond the speed of sound! Blossom lets out words of objection, but he cannot hear her- and even if he did it is likely he would not heed them.

As he takes off toward the cannon, it fires again- which he nimbly dodges. Mere seconds later he crashes through the cannon wall!

As soon as he lands he locates the cannon operator and strangles him as he holds him in the air, above the fusion reactor below. "WHY?" He yells out at the the helpless man. "Ihhht... wusss our- gak- ordersss! *gasp*" He floats above the reactor and squeezes harder. "AND YOU FOLLOWED THEM?! YOU FUCKING-" He yells out as he lets go- "SCUM!" The man hoarsely screams in protest before he falls into the reactor, causing a red glow to permeate the cannon for a short while before it initiates a self destruct system.

His eyes aflame; he looks at the other people as they scramble to leave the cannon. "None of you are leaving this place alive... You followed your orders to the grave!"

(===)

"We have to get her back to the house!" Buttercup yells out. "No, Dexter's lab is closer and is better stocked- you get the Professor, I'll put her in the lab!" Buttercup nods as she flies off. Blossom gently lifts Bubbles up and cradles her. "Why did this happen...?" Blossom asks herself as she notices the cannon exploding. "Dexter..."

(===)

Dexter stands in awe of the situation. All of the scientists and soldiers he just recently worked with and fought along-side with lay dead at his feet, by his hand. "You all put yourselves in this situation. Not me. Count yourself lucky I gave you all a swift death, Model M wouldn't of been so kind." He states grimly as he walks out of the cannon before it melts down completely.

(===)

With Bubbles on the operation table, Buttercup flies down with Utonium in toe. "Oh my god; Bubbles!" He lets out worried. Her arm is in a thick cast with chemicals being poured into her. Blossom is only partly in sight, as she constantly messes with devices to check her vitals. "I... think she's going to be okay. This is not going to be a smooth week though..."

Dexter floats above the city of Rio de Janeiro and looks toward the battlefield. "They want us dead? In the middle of this crisis?" He pauses, fuming. He thinks to himself deeply, never leaving the sight of the Battlefield or the mental image of the young man who died in his arms. "Model M will be the death of them all..."

"She's stable, and I cauterized the wound. We should take her back to the house." Blossom orders. "How did this happen?" Utonium blubbers out, still never getting an answer.

They don't know what happened themselves. Their supposed 'allies' Humanity, have turned on them. None of them know why, and none of them know what is going to happen next.

 ***An hour or so later, Dexter arrives at the house to meet them all nursing Bubbles.***

"Is she okay?" Dexter asks somberly. Blossom merely nods, avoiding eye contact. The professor leaves the kitchen with a bowl of hearty looking soup as he locks eyes with Dexter. If anyone is going to know what happened, it would be him. They merely nod at each other as Utonium places the soup on the table and jostles Bubbles awake.

She hazilly makes out the room, before starting to panic, noticing she is missing her right arm. "Shh, calm down Bubbles. You are fine." Blossom lets out as hallow reassurance. "B-But my arm...!" She blubbers out nearly going back into shock. She slowly rises to a sitting stance and eyes the soup on the table. She looks around, everyone is here worried about her. She doesn't have time to worry about herself while other people do the same.

She rubs her cast, the cannon bullet took off her entire arm and shoulder with artistic precision. She lets off an innocent statement to ease the tension. "I'm not too good with my left arm... haha..." Dexter and Utonium walk away as Bubbles starts eating the soup, having difficulty holding the spoon.

As they enter the basement, the Professor's lab, they look around and close the door. They sit down next to a very well designed safe.

"What happened over there Dexter?" - "The government... or perhaps indeed all of humanity has marked us as a threat, and seek to wipe us off the face of the world." - "That's... *sigh* Why haven't they come 'here' yet?" Dexter diverts his eyes as he remembers his actions in the cannon. "The last soldier I killed said that it was a very new order, chances are it hasn't been fully spread yet."

He continues with mock reassurance in his eyes. "And I would love to think that even if it were spread, it would take a longer time due to some of them disobeying the order. I think we have a day at most to plan out what we are going to do." Dexter's Chronometal enhanced ears pick up the door opening, but he ignores it. Part of him wants whoever is there to hear what he is about to say. He is tired of holding it in.

"I think it's time we put the chemical to use, I think we have no choice." - "But... that's..." Dexter shakes his head. "We prepared it for a time like this. The world is going to end, and everyone is going to be enslaved into a life of permanent pain and torture. After that, there is no guarantee the wildlife and well-being of the planet would be preserved."

Utonium grimly nods. He opens the safe and produces a seemingly invisible chemical in a large vial. He eyes it as if he were looking at the very end of the world. Dexter spouts words indirectly targeting the person at the door. "With this, all of humanity will be killed over night, painlessly. This is the best we can do."

Dexter snatches the chemical and goes upstairs, the person at the door now vacated.

As he enters the room, everyone is looking at him, each with different emotions across their face.

"Dexter...?" Blossom asks sheepishly.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Chapter one starts very strong, and the story will only get stronger from hereon. I originally took a several month break from writing when I first finished the Chronometal Wars. I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue or not, but I ended up continuing. This story, the Chronometal Panic, is where I eventually ended up getting most of my permanent readers on Snafu. It's rather dark and brooding compared to the energetic and confusing atmosphere of the first story. Its layout will prove to be rather unique as well, as it prides itself in being split into 3+ "tangents" as I call them. These tangents are this story's hook, while the original story's hook was constantly going back and forth through time, this story is more or less linear but branching into 3 different but still linear tangents._


	3. Chapter 2: Unstoppable Force

Dexter stands in the doorway to the basement, being looked upon by the Powerpuffs. Bubbles with a face of fear, Buttercup with an almost surprised look, and Blossom with one of disbelief.

"Dexter, what were you guys talking about? What is this... this chemical?" Dexter carries an emotionless face as Utonium comes out of the basement. "Maybe it's time we tell them, Dexter?" He merely nods, never relenting his lock on Blossom.

The professor raises the vial to eye level, with a very light pink haze within it. "G-Girls... this... um..." Dexter gently takes the chemical from the professor and continues. "Ever since the middle of the first war, Mr. Utonium and I conducted research on the shards of Model M. What we eventually found, is what you all know: It grows based on the sins and evil nature of all Humanity. Pain, Sadness, ill-gotten happiness, death... and we found, as we released this information to the public, it escalated in growth. Almost 500% in one afternoon."

He shakes the vial around a bit. The incredibly thin gas within doesn't even change position. "Of course, that alone would not be proper justification for mass genocide, would it? Of course not, but as men of science, we continued along with whatever this path would bring us to. We found that there was a decomposing gaseous element within Model M's husk. Blossom-" Blossom's head rises to meet his words. "You and I are the only witnesses to what this gas has done to the world should it have been released by Model M." - "The dead world..." Dexter nods. "Yes..." Blossom shakes her head-" But we just stopped the world from becoming that, you would have fought all this time only to send it back to hell?!"

Dexter shakes his head and smirks a small bit. "No, no... Blossom. Unlike you, I didn't fight to save the world. I fought to save you, who in turn fought to save the world... but outside of that fact, this is not the main goal of this element." He raises the beaker once more, looking at it intently. "Through the entirety of the first and second wars, only until its end, we conducted endless research on this compound, and research on the Model itself." He lowers the vial to look at the three girls.

"Our finished product is something that does not end all life. But indeed, only ends all Human life. Not painfully, but in fact: as painlessly as possible. Our goal? Should the spread of Model M be so far spread, and our resources too thinned to deal with the infection, we can cut off its power source with no permanent damage to the earth as a whole."

The three girls merely stare at him as if he were a mad-man. Bubbles is the first to speak up. "How could you even think of doing something like that?!" - "They are going to die any-" - "That's not what I said! Aren't you a Hero, Dexter?! K...Killing people should never be an option!" Blossom speaks up. "I am inclined to agree, it would only be a good plan if you were: say, a zookeeper in a pen, and some animals were infected. Taking them out would be the right thing lest everything dies, but you are not the Earth-Keeper, you are not a higher being, Dexter! We cannot kill them all simply because there is an Infection! There is no guarantee that Model M will win! We cannot resort to this genocide!"

Buttercup stays silent...

Dexter hands the vial to Utonium who merely nods and heads back into the basement.

"Genocide... huh? Murder? Taking... them out? Is that what you think this is? Is that what you think I have become? A mindless murderer? Someone with a foggy view of the world ending it for... 'its own good?' Blossom, you were there. We were both there. You saw the absolute carnage in the end. A silent death, where everyone died, where EVERYTHING died."

He raises a clenched fist and diverts his eyes. "We stopped the Chronometal Wars. That particular future is gone. But..." He looks to the ceiling. As if he is looking through it, to the clouds. "An even worse future is ahead of us, a future where not even the sands remain, the entire world is on the verge of total destruction. And what heralds this new future? Not Mandark, not anymore. It is the damn humans, the all of humanity that has turned its back on us and doomed the world. Model M will feed on their anger, their murders, their pain... grow infinitely in strength until not even a single human remains- until not even a single life-form remains! We are looking at a future Ten times worse than the one foretold before."

Dexter chuckles slightly... "And what do they do? What does humanity do? They turn their guns on the only heroes left, the only people who understand this war. If it wasn't for quick thinking; all of us, save Buttercup, would have died in that field. Then what would happen? Something far worse than what this chemical will do." Bubbles shakes her head. "Are you STILL trying to justify murder? STOP IT! We cannot resort to anything like that! That is insane!"

Blossom sputters out: "Y... Yeah..." - "Blossom?" Bubbles asks. Blossom says nothing, deep in thought. Buttercup looks over her, as if she is reading her very mind. She closes her eyes and faces the floor. "Are... are all three of you saying you would openly declare war on Humanity while there is a greater enemy out there?! MODEL M IS THE ENEMY! NOT THEM!" She rises from the couch and paces around the room. Never parting eyes with Dexter.

"Think about this, genius boy. If we release this chemical, how will it affect everyone at once? And who is to say that you will survive it?" Dexter merely laughs a small bit. "What now?!" He shakes his head. "There is something that will indeed affect all of the world at once, and hopefully, if it works perfectly, not even I will remain." Blossom and Bubbles eye Dexter.

"You will... kill yourself?" - "To save this world. Yes. Utonium and I came up with this plan after the first war's end. Should an event ever rise that we could never remedy, we would cushion the blow to the world by sacrificing Humanity, as well as ourselves to save the world."

Bubbles shakes her head, still in disbelief. "It... It is so hard to think that you would jump to this conclusion, and not any other." Dexter leans on the wall. "Jump? We didn't-"-"Yes, you did! You both did! You could have... have, you know..." Bubbles growls a bit- "NOT of chased this particular path! Sure, the gas can kill all humans. That's fine and all, but why did you automatically assume that things were going to get this bad?!"

"Didn't they get this bad though?" - "That's not the point! Why did you... you BOTH make a fallback plan to kill all of humanity before the Second War even began?! Do you two have such little faith that killing humanity is almost a comfort rather than a last resort?!"

Bubbles shakes her head. "What am I saying? It's not a last resort! We are not doing it! We can't do it!" Still leaning against the wall, Dexter eyes Bubbles intently. An obvious agitation crossing his face. Bubbles' face scrunches up. "What, Dexter. Are you mad at me? Do you not like what I say? GOOD!" Bubbles points her one remaining hand right at Dexter's face.

"You are not a hero, Dexter! I'm not sure when, I'm not sure if you haven't always been this way or not. But right now, you fight against all that defines a hero! You should just leave, NOW!" Before Dexter has a chance to interject, Buttercup rises from the couch:

"That's enough, Bubbles!" She yells out as she takes her by the hand. "Do you remember what happened to you less then an hour ago?! They tried to KILL YOU, and if it wasn't for my immortality, I would have died along with you! Today, we aren't heroes... we are TARGETS!" Blossom raises her head to meet Buttercup's. "So you support what Dexter is saying, then?" Bubbles jostles her hand free of Buttercup's, who responds:

"Not entirely. But I agree that we can't sit here and do nothing. They have turned their backs; and their guns on us. If we don't strike first we will be dead by morning: That is a promise." Bubbles shakes her head feverishly:

"You too?! What is wrong with you guys? How can you even think of doing something so horrible?! W-What about everything you guys fought for?! Dexter, Blossom, what about Lynn- err, Barasia? You guys ate up fifty or more years of your life getting this far! And what are you going to do with it now that you have it? Throw it all away?! And on an off chance that it will stop Model M, even without the proof that Model M will still beat us if we don't!?"

"That's enough." Dexter spits out. "I have stared into the eyes of angels and devils alike, seen and heard the end myself. This world won't just be lifeless: the world itself will die. This new malignance seeks to end all life and destroy the very planet. To what end? I don't know. And that is why I am so scared of it. It is a mindless enemy that seeks nothing but death."

He walks to the door, opening it; but not leaving without moving his head to face Bubbles'.

"It seeks only death. Death fuels it. It IS death. What if there is no life to end? If there is no more death there is no more Model M. This is the world's last hope... I hope soon you will understand..."

Now outside of the house, he lets off a disturbingly cryptic threat:

"For your sake...!" He shuts the door behind him and takes off into the air.

"For my sake..." Bubbles lets out under her breath with a new-found zeal behind it. Buttercup walks around the room, deep in thought, before her shade rises. "It seems the group is splitting up, eh?" Buttercup shakes her head. "Maybe not, Him. Maybe it's just a temporary thing."

"Temporary you say? If I heard correctly, he was working on this for years, and not just OUR years... unless I am mistaken, he had the greater half of a century to think this through." Blossom nods. "We both did..." Him looks over to Blossom, who looks back into his eyes. "What is it, girl?" Blossom redirects her eyes from Him to Buttercup.

"Buttercup, may I borrow Him from you for a moment? I want to talk to him in private." Buttercup scoffs- "As if we need any more secrets right now..."

"F-Fine. Go on, Him." Buttercup's color shifts from brown to green in an instant as the shade rises from her shadow. "Let's head out back for this one."

Now in seclusion, Blossom looks up into Him's eyes.

"I am not sure how time travel affected us... or our talks beforehand... but: do you remember anything? Anything obvious that would spark this surprise conversation?" - "If you are talking about the end of the world... or what would have been, that is... yes, I remember everything: including your robot body, and our actions within the future."

"How do you remember all of this? That future no longer exists." - "The Ark grants me insight into the past and present, and especially into you and your destiny." - "But not the future?" Him laughs a little bit. "I can see a small amount into the future, but you must know one fact."

Him extends his claws to the green world around him. The wind blowing his beard lightly. "This existence we live in is a fragile and fleeting thing born of the Ark, everything you see is collapsing and repairing itself at the seems. The future is extended by a few seconds for every second we perceive."

"Is that even possible?" Him pauses for a small moment. "Dexter accomplished the impossible within the void. He killed an arch-angel and earned the trust of another in the same lifetime. This world is both gift and curse upon Humanity. Whether or not they choose death over life is no longer in their hands however... it seems they sealed their fate turning on their few remaining heroes."

Blossom looks back up at him. "Is it their fate to die because of us?" Him looks back down. He grins slightly. "I feel much conflict within you, Leader Girl. You know not what or who to side with... Dexter and your lust for revenge and safety for your sisters... or the Humans and your will to be the hero you were born to be... or perhaps... the fear of the uncertainty of it all. The fear that makes even a hero run away, never to return."

Him begins to phase back into the house, but before he does, he lets out one final remark: "Blossom, your fate is your own. It just so happens that your fate is also their fate. What do you think is right? That is not a question 'I' can answer. But I do hope you can... soon. The end is nigh, and it is near. Decide, Blossom."

As soon as Blossom opens the door, a heated debate is heard resonating through the household. What starting as simply loud talking turned into all out screaming at each other within moments!

"How can you just leave us to join that psychopath?!" Bubbles screams out.

"I'm not leaving! Dexter is still part of this group! Staying here would split us up, not going to him!" Buttercup yells.

As soon as Buttercup makes a move for the door, Bubbles lunges in front of it and gestures impasse upon it with her one remaining arm.

"Don't leave..."

Buttercup nears her, and raises her hand as if to push her out of the way, before stopping herself, and saying simply; yet loudly:

"MOVE!" The roar shakes the windows and seems to almost blow away Bubbles, who simply stumbles away from the door, as Buttercup leaves the house. She looks back and says:

"Just... come on, Bubbles... we don't have to split up." She flies off without awaiting a response.

Bubbles sits in the middle of the floor, facing nothing in particular as she buries her face into her one remaining hand. Very faint sobbing can be heard from her. Blossom walks up to her. The basement opens and the Professor nears her as well.

Blossom and Utonium eye each other for a short moment before he leans down to hug Bubbles, who promptly shoves him away with enough strength to 'almost' stagger him off his feet. "YOU WERE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN THINK TO TELL US?!" - "B-Bubbles..." She nearly froths through a red face of tears.

"I... I... how could you?! How could you both just..." - "Bub-" - "SHUT UP!" She roars out! "I AM SO SICK OF PEOPLE TELLING ME WHAT TO DO! You four are f... f... freaking i-idiots...!" He merely backs away, and slinks into his lab once more.

Bubbles looks into Blossom's eyes, her own still filled with tears. Yet she says nothing.

She looks across Blossom's body... her armor. The opaque Chronometal covers all of her features, and gives her the Illusion of white hair... "What happened to you guys...?" She says before cutting herself off and rubbing where her arm once was.

"What happened to all of us? This... pointless battle has taken so much from us... and now it seems we aren't a team anymore..." She once again looks to Blossom, but with a much different emotion crossing her face. It seems like she is almost begging Blossom for something, yet at the same time dreading.

"Are you going with Dexter...? Please don't go with Dexter, Blossom... please..."

Blossom can feel the gravity of the situation at hand; the very world seems to rumble around her next words:

"I..." Bubbles looks to her next words with a face ready to break out into any major emotion...

(The world around them distorts... the entire universe is heaving at the seems. It feels like it is being torn to pieces!)

* * *

 **Tangent A: Dexter's Vision.**

She shakes her head and turns her back to Bubbles who nearly bawls at the mere gesture. "I'm... so sorry, Bubbles... but..." - "Enough... please... just: go..." Blossom says nothing... She walks out of the door without another word and looks to the horizon.

"Dexter... I trust you..." She flies off to Megaville's center, where Dexter and Buttercup flew off to. Halfway there she finds Buttercup floating in the air. They merely nod at each other, aware of the grim future ahead of them. They then fly off.

Buttercup speaks up, never making eye contact. "So it's come to this?" - "I really had hoped that it wouldn't... but it seems we have no choice... its kill or be killed, and I won't let either of you die!" Buttercup looks over to Blossom who looks back. They both seem to have gained a twisted sense of respect for one another... this war is going to bring much hardship... neither of them can afford to miss-step. It is war from now on.

They disappear into the horizon, leaving only a single broken dream and the Illusion of the word "hero" behind.

* * *

 **Tangent B: Model M's Return.**

She merely looks into Bubbles' eyes. She shakes her head and says, "Model M is the enemy, not humanity... not Dexter...!" - "You are... serious?" She nods, causing a small smile to splay across her face. "But, what about Buttercup? What about the rest of humanity?" She shakes her head again.

"Dexter's Chronometal is too important to the world. And whether or not you or I want to believe it, he has a point and is essentially trying to Destroy Model M too... we just have to pray that when our paths cross, he will join us in defeating M, our way."

Bubbles gulps and grimly nods. "I... really hope we can get him to stop... if he goes too far, I don't..." She shivers slightly and gazes out the window. "Let's see the Professor." She nods and they both head down the stairs... leaving all doubt in their minds behind, and focusing on the one and only truth:

Model M is the real enemy.

* * *

 **Tangent C: The Hero...**

Blossom looks out the window, but never turns her body from Bubbles. Bubbles looks as if she is about to fall apart, as Blossom acts very enigmatically. "I won't..." - "R... Really?!" She looks back with a stern face, causing her to recoil a small bit.

"What Dexter is doing is wrong. We have to stop him, before this gets out of hand." She commands, reaching Bubbles in a way she never thought possible! "Are you... seri-" - "Yes I am, Bubbles. This is insane... I just never knew it until now. I know where my loyalties lie."

She raises her head high as the Professor comes out of the basement.

"I am Blossom, of the Powerpuff girls. Sworn to uphold justice, to fight crime... and the forces of evil! Dexter must be stopped before Innocents are killed, even if that means stopping BOTH of them by force. There is no other choice."

Bubbles and the Professor look at the girl as if they had just remembered who they were. "You're right..." He lets out. "Follow me into the lab, I think I know where he is headed."

They head down the stairs, leaving all insecurities behind, with a new-found passion and zeal; they look beyond to the future ahead.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _And this is the infamous break in the timelines. As you can see at the very end of this, Blossom's decisions (for one reason or another) broke into 3 very different responses. One agreeing with Dexter, one against Dexter, and something in between. They will be perceived as the same chapters, but in different tangents._


	4. Chapter 3A: The ends, the means: Dexter

The Chronometal Panic  
Tangent A: Dexter's Vision  
Chapter 3: The ends, the means: Dexter

"Dexter ran off in a huff last time I saw him, any idea where he is?" - "Oh I know exactly where he is." Still flying above the city, Blossom looks over to Buttercup. "Buttercup?" - "This isn't a new thing... he's told me about this plan for a while now."

Blossom faces forward, still flying to where Buttercup is going. "Why did he tell you and not me?" Buttercup never makes eye contact. She picks her words wisely, however.

"You were one of the biggest liabilities at the time." - "W-What?!" - "Calm down... This plan was put into place near the end of the first war, I knew; and HE knew that at the time, it was merely an idea. But with what happened, I knew it was inevitable." - "That doesn't explain why he left me out..." - "It wasn't just you, it was Bubbles too." Blossom looks over to Buttercup, who finally looks over herself.

"So... it was only you and the Professor?" - "And Barasia." Blossom's eyes go wide as if she is remembering someone from long ago. "B-Barasia is getting involved?!" - "Not sure, he said she needed to find something, once she had it we would know exactly what to do. Until then, she said never to trust humanity." - "Never to trust them? Did she know this was going to happen?"

Buttercup shakes her head. "I have no idea what that girl is thinking... she disappeared without a trace, but I know she is still around... somewhere." Flying for what seems like hours, Buttercup finally stops. Blossom looks around; it seems like nothing more than a wheat field... "Is this... where Dexter is?" She asks as the sun starts to set. Buttercup looks around, making sure the coast is clear.

She stomps the ground right below her with great strength, and to Blossom's surprise, a metal tower rises roughly 10 feet from the ground. A door slides open and Buttercup steps inside, and beckons Blossom to come inside as well. "W...Whoa..."

She lets out simply. The tube fires down quickly. The glass windows fly by fast, and Blossom can see a vast underground network below them. As they reach the bottom, the doors fire open again, the leave the tube only to be greeted by the man himself.

"It's good to see you here, Blossom." He lets out warmly. "Hey... Dexter." She says sheepishly, as if she were meeting him for the first time. "I can't help but notice, Bubbles isn't here..." Buttercup follows suit: "She will come eventually." Dexter raises an eyebrow. "Are you so sure? This is not a decision to be made simply because others are doing it... this is war, life or death. Justice... Truth... The one and only end of the world."

Buttercup shakes her head. "Well, 'Joining us' and 'Not fighting us' will be just about the same thing in my book." Dexter turns his back and walks into the core of this new labyrinth. "I've done the math, you know. This world will be rendered helpless in less than a week, and completely destroyed by month's end." He turns around and looks at the two. "Our actions in South America gave the entire western hemisphere two more days of life. The eastern hemisphere will be consumed that much quicker."

Blossom looks around, not so much at the devices as much as she is lost in thought at his words. 'Two days?' she thinks to herself. Dexter returns to a high tech desk and punches in command after command. "Wait." Buttercup breaks the silence with. Dexter looks over.

"Two days? The battle we did was pretty small..." Dexter nods, almost proud. "Indeed, it was a small battle." He returns to his work as Buttercup shakes her head, flustered. "Are you saying that such a small battle gave us two days out of a week? How is that possible?" - "It is simple, the humans are fools." Buttercup walks deeper into the new Lab, not making any real contact with anything.

"Fools, huh? That sounds about right, but at the same time the numbers don't seem to match up." - "Humanity has turned their back on their heroes." Blossom recoils at the words, as does Buttercup. "Wait... not just us?" Dexter grimly nods, even more amplified by the smirk on his face.

"The idiots have been killing off, or otherwise fighting the heroes that have protected them. Some because of their supposed connection to the Chronometal Wars, others due to them refusing to kill the machines... the ones powered by humans, resulting in large scale annihilation."

Dexter slides his chair out from under the desk and meets eyes with Buttercup. "Model M is hardly doing anything at this moment. The only real threat they pose is to unarmed settlements, ones in conflict or not being protected by heroes. Why in conflict? Why are they not being protected? They have only themselves to blame. It almost sickens me what has transpired these few short days."

He rises from the chair and approaches another computer; one so large and bright Dexter's figure is nearly lost within it.

"This war would be many times less destructive if humanity helped their heroes... not persecuted them. All it would really take is one real wall of defense to turn off this war for weeks to come. Yet, to no avail. As the days pass, more cities are lost, more heroes are killed... and in 7 days time Model M will accelerate into speeds and powers unstoppable to anything on this planet."

Blossom runs to Dexter, who is still eclipsed by the large computer. "So... what do we do? If we try to help them we will be attacked! The world will be dead in such a short amount of time! What can we do?!" Dexter punches in one last command as the monitor displays the image he smiles at.

He turns around and points at it, letting off a large grin; "This... this is what we can do!"

Blossom looks at the monitor, not sure what she is looking at. Buttercup even more-so. Noticing their confusion Dexter speaks up:

"This is 'The Hangar.' It is an experimental environmental control satellite that was put into orbit and put under construction roughly half a year before the First War." Buttercup tears her gaze from the black satellite and asks Dexter a very intelligent question.

"So what?"

Dexter's brow furrows. "It can 'edit' certain weather functions anywhere in the world." - "Aaaaand...?" Dexter sighs. "It exhumes gaseous particles to do this." Blossom looks up to him, but Buttercup is still stumped. "And that means...?" Blossom speaks up; "The chemical he designed is a gas! He can use this satellite to deploy it!" - "... ... ... OH! Right!" Buttercup snaps her fingers as she finally understands.

"So what's the plan?" Blossom asks. Dexter smiles slightly. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but this isn't my Lab." Blossom looks around, it looks a lot different, that's a given. But she couldn't put her finger on it. "So whose is it?" - "Barasia's."

"Barasia has a lab?" Blossom asks. "She lent it to me after we beat Mandark, she said she had a better one to make." - "Make?" Dexter nods with an enigmatic look on his face; it seems he doesn't know either. "Yeah, it's odd, I know. This lab already functions as a teleporter to the moon. Why scrap such an effective workstation like this?"

Buttercup's eyebrow rises. "The moon?" Dexter nods. "That's how we will get to 'The Hangar.' We go to the moon, and using the low gravity and surprise, we sneak in undetected." - "Sounds cool, I guess-" Buttercup lazily exclaims, cleaning her ear: "But when do we do this?"

Dexter turns back to the giant computer and puts in a few commands and queries. "In theory, the sooner, the better... but there is a gigantic problem that I found not so long ago." The computer lights up once more to show a picture of a giant machine. It's humanoid in nature, but is missing legs, which are replaced with what look like high powered boosters.

"Almost to spite me it seems; the U.S. government completed tests on a sort of 'Super Machine,' with firepower to rival even my greatest of inventions." He lets out, not amused. "It seems to not only be adept at, but built explicitly FOR space travel and combat. If we were caught in The Hangar, we would be blasted out of the sky before we knew what hit us."

Blossom looks to Buttercup, who looks back. They both turn their attention back to Dexter. "So... what do we do?" Dexter seems at a loss for words.

He walks away from the computer and returns to the desk he was once at. "I am a man of science... and an aspiring spy; I am not a general... I have no Idea how to destroy or cripple that device AND be on the Hangar at the same time." He turns around with a grim look on his face.

"Even if one of us were to do separate things, if my calculations are correct, that machine has enough firepower to take out not only a giant space station, but any one of us in one clean shot. Even with our Chronometals, we would be walking right into a deathtrap. I won't lie to you both... it doesn't look good for us..."

The group stirs... The objective is simple...

First, they need to destroy or otherwise pacify the prototype machine; that has the power to destroy The Hangar, or kill any of them in one shot.

Then, assuming they can somehow accomplish that, someone needs to mount The Hangar, prime the gas, fire it... and ensure its deployment is successful.

Moments... minutes... hours pass with little or no communication between the group.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Buttercup yells as the entire Lab rumbles and quakes!

A large scale vibration starts again, this time knocking Dexter's desk down! "What the... Rggh, what is going on?!" Dexter lets out frustrated! Then what sounds like an explosion right by their ears, the biggest of all the quakes erupts and causes lights to short out and explode!

"Blossom!" Dexter yells out! "Follow me to the surface!" - "What about me!?" - "Go to the moon!" - "W-What?!" Buttercup yells out as a large explosion caves in the roof! "F-Fine, see you soon!" She yells as she darts into an adjacent pathway, and out of sight.

Dexter and Blossom fire above the lab to see a large robot, not the same as in the blueprints, but very similar: staring them down.

"Damn... how did they knew we were here?!" Dexter yells as he primes his weapon!

This is going to be a tough battle.

"Scatter!" Blossom yells out as it lunges for them! It turns to aim for Dexter, getting a disrupting shock to the spine from Blossom. She is quickly grabbed and chucked into the sky! "Blossom!" Dexter yells as the machine fires round after round at her, but she is far from defenseless!

She brings out her B-Blade and parries, deflects and defends against all of the bullets, as Dexter primes his D-Rifle! He fires it at the construct but it nimbly rockets to the side and begins to fire on him as well! He lunges for cover behind one of the rocks. It doesn't pursue and instead flies into the air to combat Blossom!

The sound of the struggle causes Dexter to pop his head out and see the harsh battle. "Blossom, hold on!" He yells as he attempts to line up the shot. They are both moving incredibly fast, Dexter is no slouch though. Blossom, noticing his attempts fires in one direction, causing a hot pursuit by the machine!

"Gotcha..."

An ear splitting shot is fired from his rifle, causing all loose dirt around him to fly in all directions, clouding the scene, but he doesn't need to see to know he made a direct hit!

"D-A-A-A-M~~N!" A crackling speaker lets out as the dust begins to settle. The machine is piloted! "Dexter, there's a person-" - "Yeah I know, there's nothing we can do about it, He's trying to kill us!" - "We are just going to leave him in there?" A short pause crosses the field.

"I AM FAR FROM DEFENSELESS!" The pilot lets out as he launches a pod at Dexter, igniting the golden field! The machine lunges once more at Blossom, but this time with a large blade protruded.

"Damn... not fire... again..." Dexter lets out, reminiscing as his Chronometal buckles under the intense heat. Temperature warnings flare off in his helmet. "Yeah... I know, suit. Shut up..."

"Dexter, are you al- AHH!" She tries to say as she barely dodges the machine's slash, but it lands a mocking blow cutting her face.

"Give up, Powerpuff girl, and come quietly!" The pilot orders. "Not a chance, I won't let you kill us!" - "Foolish girl, you will be the death of us all!" Blossom lets off a devilish smirk, blood dripping off her face: "You don't know how right you are..."

Dexter limps away from the fire, hardly able to move. "For a time traveling soul holding piece of advanced equipment, you aren't very resistant to fire, are you?" - *Heat threshold capped, get to a safe location* - "You also don't make very good conversation..."

The battle slows down, the machine almost out of fuel and Blossom getting tired herself. She glares through the cockpit, only seeing a silhouette of a person. The blood running down her face gives her the appearance of a war god.

The machine makes one final lunge, but Blossom summons all her remaining strength for a large attack! "BUTTERCRUSH KICK!" She yells out as she makes direct contact with the cockpit, shattering it!

*SHRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!* A loud high pitched screeching noise permeates the area, nearly deafening Blossom!

"What the hell... argh... Blossom?!" Dexter yells out, covering his ears. Finally leaving the brushfire next to a dirt clearing, he can move his joints correctly. He sees the large machine fall to the ground, with Blossom's foot in its cockpit. "Damn... she kicked it to death..."

A few moments pass and Dexter makes it to the crash site. Blossom has the man by the jacket. She looks over to Dexter. "Hey Dexter..." She lets out somberly. "What is it, Blossom?" - "This ass-hat had a tracking device attached to my armor. That's what the screeching was a minute ago."

Dexter looks down and nods, in thought. "That just about explains everything." - "What should I do with him?" Dexter takes a while and thinks.

Then he shakes his head. "Let him go." - "Really?" Blossom lets out not TOO surprised, but still caught somewhat off guard. "There's no reason to kill him, return to base and tell them to keep it coming if they want to keep up with us!" - "Th-Thank you, Dexter... I'll d-do that!" The pitiful pilot lets out as he stumbles to the ground and runs away. Dexter smashes the machine's cockpit and looks at the man as he walks away. ... ... ...

After he is a good distance away Dexter pulls out a pistol and fires a deadly accurate shot right for his head, causing him to drop instantly.

"D-Dexter...?" Blossom lets out confused. "I made sure he didn't see it coming. He was a good pilot; he knew my suit's weakness. We couldn't let him come back in another one of those things. This is for the best..."

Dexter flies back into the ruined lab, with Blossom in close pursuit. "We don't have a lot of time. We have to do whatever we can, they know our plan, it's now or never."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Definitely a lot edgier than any of the parts beforehand, but it all builds up to the same conclusion in the end. Is Dexter evil? Well, only time will tell._


	5. Chapter 3B: Darkest Before the Dawn

The Chronometal Panic  
Tangent B: Model M's Return  
Chapter 3: Darkest Before the Dawn

"Professor!" Blossom yells out, catching Utonium off guard, and making him almost fall out of his chair. "O-Oh, Girls, it's you!" He lets off a sigh of relief as if he was expecting a really scary enemy behind him. "Is everything alright?" Bubbles follows up with, bolting down the staircase.

"Yes, everything is..." The professor attempts to say before stopping himself and sighing. "No, things aren't fine..." He looks to the computer monitor. "Things are bad, very bad." - "How so?" Blossom asks. "Well, I'm getting reports that almost all the heroes from around the world are being assassinated by their own governments... the world is losing its defenses and Model M is eating everything in sight."

"We have to find a way to stop them!" Blossom yells out. Utonium looks to Blossom, who looks back almost with an angry face. "What have you been doing this whole time, professor?" - "I, uh..." - "You were working on ways of killing humanity, NOT Model M!" He looks away, the truth of her words stinging him. "But it's not too late, we can fix this!" Blossom reassures after.

"How?" Bubbles asks with her big blue eyes piercing Blossom. "Man you guys are hopeless, we destroy 'Mother' Model M!" Utonium shakes his head. "Blossom, this is nothing like the one we faced in the first war, this one is huge, I haven't even gotten a full scan on it it's so big!"

Blossom looks into his eyes. "You... haven't even..." She says before stopping herself. She looks him up and down as if she were a predator eying a potential meal. "Wh-What is it?" - "YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SCANNED IT YET?!" She yells out in a cold breath, freezing the tips of his hair!

"I... uh... was going to?" - "Yes you were." Utonium punches in command after command as Blossom backs away and looks to the ground. Bubbles sees this and follows her. "Blossom?" - "Oh, uh... hey, Bubbles." Bubbles merely looks at her. Blossom knows why, and sighs. "Look, I'm just a little on edge... I don't know what to do anymore."

Bubbles puts her one remaining hand on Blossom's shoulder. "Just... be the hero we all need." Blossom smiles slightly, but paws Bubbles' hand off of her. "Hero, huh? We will see about that." She states grimly as she walks to Utonium.

"So how do you scan for this thing anyway?" - "Well I'm inputting several commands into a large machine just outside the house." - "There's a machine out there?" - "Well it's camouflaged to look like a garden." Blossom pauses for a short moment, before he continues. "I'm putting in commands, but the actual scanning has to be done by hand, want to help?"

"Ha, sure." Blossom kids around with. They all head up the stairs and quickly out the door. Blossom and Utonium head right around to the back, but Bubbles looks at the city, or more specifically, the direction the city is in.

"Buttercup..."

"So how does it work?" - "Well it's simple really-" He pretty much lies, as the machine comes to life with a bunch of complicated 3-D models floating in mid-air. "Wow...!" Blossom exclaims, amazed. Bubbles follows after being gone for a short while, eyes to the ground, but when she looks up and sees the odd imagery all she has to say is: "Did I miss something?" Head cocked.

"Look, it really is simple. See this?" He points at a conspicuously familiar looking circle. "That's Earth." - "Wh-What?! You are scanning the entire solar system?" - "Well not scanning, it's more radar-like, in case something big and scary decides to ruin our day. The actual scanning is done on a much smaller and more precise level." He lets out as he pokes Earth, causing the images to condense, until all that is left is Earth and the moon.

He waves a hand around and the Earth is flipped upside down. He gestures the magnification of Antarctica and it zooms in greatly. "This is where 'Mother' is, and I will show you why I never fully scanned it before." He warns as he begins a scan by palming the region.

Before long light after light pops up, in varied and vivid colors. Then the lights grow more three dimensional as Utonium paws at the image to make it go even deeper. "Look..." He says enigmatically as the lights continue to grow in size, shape and color. "If you think it's bad now, just wait a couple hours." - "H... Hours?!" Blossom stutters. She gulps as the machine continues to put more and more information forward.

The entire southern pole is festering and writhing, and continuing to grow...

"I looked at this for an entire night, went to sleep, woke up and checked on it, and it nearly quadrupled in size. This extends all the way into the core of the earth..." A terrifying pause envelopes the group. Utonium looks away, before finally starting to walk away. "H-Hold on!" Blossom futilely begs him.

"There's not much more to see, Blossom." - "The hell there isn't!" She yells out! "Did you stop and think, WHY it is boring into the center of the Earth?!" - "Well... isn't it obvious? It is going to destroy the planet." - "Is that... really the first thing you can come up with? Think about it. How could this mass dig this deep this fast, and why would it even?"

Utonium stops, starlit images flying past his face. "I can answer that for you." She says, leaving Utonium to bite. "Okay, why?" - "It didn't."

Everyone looking at the still updating imagery, Blossom explains her theory.

"I think the speed at which these things had to get to the core in the time allotted is too short... the only conclusion I can come up with is that, they didn't." Blossom points at the location of the writhing mound; the South Pole.

"The answer to why it didn't is the location itself." Blossom pauses, letting the others catch up. Utonium is in thought, but Bubbles seems stumped and asks; "It is?" Blossom nods. Utonium follows; "I... think I can see it..." He says, nodding to himself.

"Great minds think alike... There was already a Model M here before this invasion, before the end of the second war!" Bubbles gasps loudly! "B-But that's... uhg, really bad! How did we miss it?" Utonium shakes his head. "The Chronometals are made of nano-steel; it can't be detected by things looking for metals, such as iron or lead. It's more than possible initial planetary scans completely missed it."

Still talking, he accesses the scanning device. "Only by intimately breaking down and analyzing the very makeup of Model M did I find the code needed to scan for it on a global scale, the results were maddening... I almost didn't even mention it to Dexter the day you all beat Malignancy, but I knew I had to."

Blossom slumps her head slightly. "This never ending battle has taken so much from us, and every time we think we win it gets ten times worse... so many good people have lost their lives..." Blossom shakes her head feverishly; "That's why we have win, now! Dexter gave us an ultimatum, but that's only one side of this thing!"

Continuing, still looking at the globe, Blossom's voice picks up. "We have to keep scanning; anything and everything we get from this will help us in the long run. We know how it is there, but we can only speculate as to why. We need more information... but..." - "But?" Bubbles lets out.

Blossom looks up with resolve and pain in her expression. "We don't have much time. This scan could take much longer than we have, that's why we need to find any and all ways to improve its scanning power." Utonium nods, but then states an objection: "I agree with your idea, but if we power this up any longer we risk blowing out the entire energy grid, it's already very unstable."

"What about my Chronometal?" Utonium pauses, and then inputs some calculations into the machine. "I'm... not too sure, this was built to use standard electricity, but it's possible with some modifications." - "When?" - "I can get an adaptor working in a few hours, until then you guys should work on the... domestic problem."

Blossom slumps her shoulders, as Bubbles cocks her head. "Domestic?" - "He means... the humans, Bubbles." - "Oh... right." Utonium speaks again; "They are after you all, but it's more then possible that with his actions, Dexter would be targeted first. If you are going to deal with this, it has to be one of peace, or we will never have the time to do this." Blossom nods.

"Let's head to Megaville's military testing base, we can talk to someone higher up there." Bubbles nods, then they both fly off.

"S-Sir! Two of the Powerpuffs are heading this way!" - "What?! Man the guns! They won't catch us off guard!" - "Uh, sir..." - "What is it?!" - "They are, uh... already here, sir." After saying that he gulps and points up. The captain looks up and nearly screams!

"WAIT! We come in peace! Just, let us talk this out!" - "We have our orders! FIRE!" The captain yells, but nothing happens. "I SAID FIRE!" - "Uh, sir, they are in all of the cannons' blind spots... we can't shoot them." - "USELESS, ALL OF YOU!"

"Uh, guys?" Blossom lets out. They all look back up; seemingly forgetting they were still there. "Can we talk now?" - "Gah, we surrender, just don't kill us!" The captain blubbers out! All of the soldiers drop their weapons and surrender. Blossom and Bubbles land and address the scared captain. "Look, we aren't looking to kill you guys, we just want to talk."

"T-Talk? About what?" He stammers. "Come on guys, we fought side by side in the Chronometal wars! We are ALL heroes, and we are both trying to protect the same thing!" - "The same... thing?" - "Yes! We want to save the world! But it's really hard to do when you want to kill us..." The captain pauses for a moment.

"Please forgive me Girls, but we have explicit orders to... um, take you out..." - "I know, but... please. Neither of us wants this; you DO know what's going on in the southern hemisphere, right?" He nods slightly. Blossom smiles. "There comes a time in our lives where the entire world seems against us, where we need to know what is truly important... what is important to you... orders? Or everyone on Earth?"

The Captain pauses as all the soldiers begin to talk all around them. Blossom seems at a loss of anything else to say, that is until Bubbles steps forward. "I... don't want to make everyone scared or anything... but the Professor told us that if we don't stop this fighting, we will all be doomed in a few days..."

"D-Days? D-Doomed? Hmm..." The Captain pauses again. After a short while he raises his head...

"Brothers... I am not going to force you to do anything that might jeopardize your career or perhaps your dreams... so I'm saying this now." He turns around to address the troops.

"What we are about to do violates everything we know about the chain of command, we are going to disobey a direct order, and in fact co-operate with the exact thing it says to destroy. If you have internal problems with this, I understand, relocate to Nevada barracks and take orders there."

After saying that, none of the soldiers move. They all nod and salute the Captain and the girls. "We are with you sir!" - "I knew the Powerpuff girls weren't evil!" - "Yeah!" The captain chuckles a little but. "I guess that's it, girls, let's save a world!"

Flying off from the military base, noticing the cannons are no longer trying to aim at them, the girls feel pretty good about themselves. "Do you think that all of the bases will stop?" Bubbles says in mid-flight. "Well... honestly? No... but we don't need them to. We need a week, one good week and we can fix all of this." Bubbles nods.

"With this base on our side, I am sure the other bases have better things to do then turn against themselves, like stopping the southern hemisphere destruction." - "Are you sure? I mean... you saw what happened in Rio..." A strong silence crosses them. "I'm... sure everything will work out, Bubbles." Blossom encourages.

They continue flying until they reach their back yard once more.

When they land in the back yard, they are greeted by a strange silence...

"Where's the professor?" Bubbles asks, beginning to wander off. "Professor?" She yells out, still wandering away. Blossom also looks around, she feels on edge, but she doesn't know why...

Then her augmented hearing from her Chronometal picks up a faint muffling from inside the house. "Bubbles... shh... come over here..." Blossom whispers to Bubbles. "What is it?" She whispers back. "I can hear something inside the house... sounds like... I'm not sure... but it's very quiet, and it's a person... we have to sneak in..." - "Sneak? It's our own house...!" - "We are still targets... we have to be careful!" Bubbles gulps...

Blossom muses... "You should go in first, Bubbles." - "Wh-What? Why?" - "My Chronometal makes me very loud; I can't sneak as well as you..." - "Oh... right." Bubbles very quietly opens the slider door, once it is open she can hear the muffling as well. She sneaks in, Blossom still outside, keeping still as to not make noise.

Then she gets an idea...

"Mff, mmph... mmm..." He sputters out, tape over his mouth. There are many men here, all of them in matching uniform... they are keeping quiet, very quiet. They are all up against the walls, and from the doorway, they cannot be seen. They are obviously trained for this specialized kind of stealth.

"...essor?" ... ... ... "Professor?" The men use hand signals, and then go into a state of light breathing, being even quieter, as the tied up man begins to sputter.

The door swings open and she looks down the stairs, Utonium is tied up in a chair directly in front of the stairwell. Bubbles looks at him... he is wiggling around and pointing his head at the walls... Bubbles seems to understand and makes a strange gesture. She motions to put her fingers in her ears as if to deafen herself, Utonium catches on and braces himself.

Bubbles breathes deep, as to scream into the basement, but then she feels really tired all of a sudden...

She looks down to see a dart in her neck, and a man at the base of the stairs. "Blossom..." She plainly says before hitting the ground.

"Good work men, let's pack this up..." One of the men says. "Hold it!" Another says; "Something isn't right... where's Blossom?" - "Fan out and search, we need her!"

Then something really unexpected happens, one of the last things the soldiers would have expected!

All of the windows shatter as other soldiers propel and jump in!

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" They yell out in unison! "There's... got to be some misunderstanding-" - "DROP YOUR WEAPONS, NOW, OR WE SHOOT!" The men drop their rifles as Blossom floats down through a broken window.

"Good job, guys... wait- BUBBLES!" She exclaims as she fires for Bubbles, knocking the soldiers away, right into the arms of the others, who quickly subdue them. "Bubbles! BUBBLES!" She screams at her as she jumps awake and smacks Blossom in the head- "WHAT?!" She yells, scared that something is wrong! "Oh... OWW!" She rubs her head and winces.

"What are you all doing? Don't you remember your orders?! Get those girls!" - "Sorry... but we serve a cause higher than the orders of the General." - "And what the hell would that be?!"

"The fate of the world, now you are either with us or against us... we have plenty of cushy cells just waiting for takers..." The soldier gulps and looks around to his brothers in arms... and sighs. "Well, I wasn't too comfortable with the idea of taking them out anyway... I guess we are with you..." - "That's the spirit!" The captain says as he lets go of the soldier who rubs his now throbbing arms. "Yeah... sure..." He lets out simply.

Now outside, the newly untied Utonium presents a small box to Blossom. "This will draw energy exclusively from your Chronometal, and siphon it into the Scanner... now be warned, I don't know HOW MUCH it will draw out. This is the first time we have tried something like this." Blossom nods and attaches the machine to the scanner.

"Here goes nothing, I guess." She blurts out as she sticks her hands into the device, and instantly starts to feel a tingly sensation. "F... Feels weird..." She dully says before she catches eye of the scanner.

"Wow... look at it go...!" She exclaims as everyone looks at the scanner. It is scanning thousands of times faster! Before they know it, the machine colony known as Model M is at the planet's core... but then something they didn't expect happens...

It continues to scan and grow... "What? It didn't stop at the core...? W-Wait, what is-" She tries to say as the cavernous depths spread into five different directions. "Feeling... woozy..." - "Are you okay?" Utonium attempts to say- "Y-yeah, let's get this done." She says as she shakes off the feeling.

A few seconds pass and the writhing mass encircles the very core of the Earth, as if that wasn't enough... it is in a very disturbing pattern...

It is a hand grasping the core... the middle finger rises the farthest, being just under the Northern American continent. "That... can't be it, we need more..." - "Blossom, you need to rest..." - "No, I need, MORE!" She yells out as she funnels pure energy into the conduit! "Blossom that will-" He attempts to say before something catches his eye.

He can't put his finger on it before the very scanner itself explodes!

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Tangent B is not that edgy at all. In fact it's more along the same grain as the original story, for better or worse. While Tangent A has Blossom going down with Dexter's anger and Tangent C has her reviving with heroic zeal, Tangent B is an intentional middle ground between the two._


	6. Chapter 3C: Dexter's Darkest Hour

The Chronometal Panic  
Tangent 3: The Hero...  
Chapter 3: Dexter's Darkest Hour

Nearly flying down the stairs, Blossom, Bubbles and Bu-

Blossom sighs... "It's not going to be the same fighting against evil without Buttercup... especially if she is the one we are going to be fighting... it already feels strange." - "None of us asked for this, Blossom." Utonium says, as he digs into a drawer.

"Well, some of us less than others..." She states sternly, looking at the Professor. "I know I messed up, but that should be behind us now..." He lets out, putting something in Blossom's hand. "A file?" - "Open it." Blossom opens the file without another question, and begins to flip through it.

As she gets to a third or fourth picture she notices Utonium heading back up the stairs- "Where are you going?" She asks almost aggressively. "I'm going to turn myself into the Military; I am far from innocent in the coming conflict." Blossom pauses... then turns away, but as she does she feels a fast sharp breeze cross her, Bubbles zipped up the stairs:

"W-What?! You can't! They will put you in prison!" He jostles her off and smiles. "It's okay... once this all blows over, I'll come back... I promise." He lets off a smile that he struggles to maintain, not knowing if that is true or not... but Bubbles isn't buying it.

"No! We are in this together! We can explain to them that we have nothing to do with Dexter's plan!" He somberly eyes the floor. "W-What? It's a good plan! We can convince them, we know the military men, they are our friends!" He shakes his head and lets off a mock smile.

"You all had nothing to do with Dexter's plan..." He turns away with a heavy amount of regret in his eyes. "But I did..." Bubbles chokes up and tries to hug him with her one remaining arm, but she can't get a good grip and keeps slipping... she eventually gives up and slumps to the floor...

She begins to cry and Utonium puts his hand on her shoulder, and she looks up into his eyes.

"It will be okay..."

He walks out the door, and as he closes it he can hear Bubbles let it all out, she must have been holding back in front of him. He sighs and takes out his phone, dialing a number.

"U-Utonium?" A surprised man on the other side stutters. "Yeah, it's me." There's a long pause with a lot of back-round noise. "Uh-umm... uh..." - "It's okay, I know you guys are going to come for me, I'm calling to turn myself in." A longer pause crosses the conversation... with much less noise this time.

"I... understand... where are you?" - "I'll be at Megacorp in 10 minutes, if you have the resources to spare, I'll come quietly..." What can be heard as a cumulative sigh crosses the other side of the phone. "Okay, sir..." Another short pause, this time he picks right back up-

"I am glad this will go down without violence..." - "Yeah... me too... see you there." He turns the phones off and begins walking...

And walking... he looks around at the people in the street, some of them still shaken by the events a year ago during the second war. Some holding up signs saying 'The end is near.' He knows that they are more right than they might think.

As he crosses into the city outskirts, he looks at the mountains left behind by the first war. This city has survived being thrown into the air, enslavement, time vaporization... all things previously thought impossible and otherwise never seen before. But what may finally end Megaville?

Humanity itself...

Bubbles sadly floats down the stairs, attempting to meet eyes with Blossom, who is brain-deep in the file the Professor handed her. "Well... I guess we are on our own..." Blossom says nothing, still looking at the file. Bubbles sits on a chair adjacent to Blossom and stares at her.

Blossom occasionally looks away from the file to look at Bubbles, but not for too long before she looks back into the file. Bubbles says nothing, still remembering the events of earlier. A few waves of sadness cross her, but she never truly cries... she holds waiting for Blossom to finish whatever it is she is doing.

"..." – "..." *Flip* "..." The silence pierces the very air.

Before finally, she puts the file down after taking a few pictures, and looks into Bubbles' wandering eyes. "He's going to be alright, Bubbles." Is the first thing she says, having nothing to do with the file. Bubbles merely nods, sniffling. "He handed me just about all the information we need to intercept Dexter." Her eyes light up a small bit- "And Buttercup...?"

"Her... too..." Blossom lets out hesitantly. "What's wrong?" - "N-Nothing." She shakes her head. "Please Blossom, if there is something wrong, I want to know!" Blossom looks at Bubbles, her deep blue eyes piercing hers... again. Blossom sighs.

"Look, I am not too sure what those two have going together, I thought that during these wars Dexter would of put all of his faith in me... but apparently he left that to Buttercup. I cannot be sure either of them are more involved with each other then they let on." - "Involved? You mean like..." Bubbles makes some odd hand gestures, trying to avoid verbal use, but it's very hard with one hand- nevertheless, Blossom understands.

"No, not like that... I think, it's more of a..." Blossom pauses. "More of a...?" Blossom isn't too sure herself. "Maybe... he knew I wouldn't go along with it...?" Bubbles looks down with a sorrowful look in her eyes. Blossom takes a few of the pictures and hands them to Bubbles, who takes a few and sets them on her lap, looking at a few individually.

She starts off emotionless, but then she starts to get puzzled, and not an innocent confusion, but a scared one. "What... are these?" She lets out incredibly curious. "That, right there; is Dexter's plan." - "Plan?" - "It's a weather controlling satellite, codenamed 'The Hangar.' It went into orbit around the first war's start."

She flips to other pictures, dismissing one that looked like nothing more than a wheat field to come to one that looks like a sprawling maze of technology; "What's this one?" Blossom pauses, and then sighs. "Apparently that is Barasia's lab." Bubbles' eyes light up, almost happy. "Lynn has a lab?" - "Apparently, at least she used to. That's what the file said. She put it into use even BEFORE the first war. It was made FOR the wars. She used it to sculpt certain Chronometals such as B... and some of D."

"Well what's that have to do with us?" - "That's where Dexter is... and he is going to use it to get to The Hangar!"

Bubbles gets out of her chair and nears the door, but Blossom remains seated. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Blossom leans forward and pats Bubbles' seat, gesturing her to come sit back down, which she eventually does after a great deal of pause. "What's wrong...?"

Blossom passes another picture to Bubbles. She looks at it, flips it over a few times, uninterested and hands it back. "A robot, so what?" - "The professor already called it in... all WE have to do is intercept in the middle of the battle." - "Intercept?" Blossom nods. "Yeah, we can't let Dexter know we are on to him, this robot will engage in battle with Dexter... and possibly Buttercup, and we will sneak into the base to access; this."

She hands another picture to Bubbles, who once again just looks at it. Blossom sighs, takes it and explains again. "That's a teleportation pad in Barasia's lab, where Dexter currently is. Apparently it teleports to the moon, which we can use to quickly access The Hangar."

"Oh, that makes sense..." Bubbles says, almost sighing. "Is there... something wrong?" Bubbles shakes her head- "No." Blossom merely looks at her, and she looks back. Surprisingly, she isn't caving in... "Are you sure?" - "Are you?"

Blossom seems baffled at the way Bubbles is currently acting. "Am... I?" Bubbles once again stares at Blossom. "This is Dexter we are talking about, Blossom..." They stare at each other again, now on different sides of the same coin, instead of the same side. Blossom picks her statement to pieces in her mind, and can come to only a few conclusions for her enigmatic behavior.

"If you are worried that I will go back to him, don't be." - "..." Bubbles merely pauses and Blossom picks up a bodily movement. She seems to be trembling a small bit... "Buttercup did..." Blossom looks away, causing Bubbles to redirect her vision. "I-I didn't mean that... uh... *sigh*" - "No, it's fine... I understand, but I promise you... Dexter and I? Over. As for Buttercup? Only time will tell."

Blossom shakes her head and looks at the clock on the basement wall. "We have about 10 minutes before the machine begins its attack on Barasia's lab, let's get ready...

"So... the government is on our side this time?" - "Well... the Professor has connections we can only dream of. Even before he was the father of three super-heroes he was a high ranking scientist." Blossom lets out, hiding behind an inconspicuous rock with Bubbles.

"Even if we are on the same side, all he did was call in info on this location, and that Dexter is here. If the robot sees us it will likely try to attack us too, so don't draw any attention until the battle is heated." Bubbles nods as they both go into wait...

 ***An hour passes, and then something loud shows up.***

"Look, there it is; stay down, out of sight... so you don't draw any attention..." They both lie in prone positions as it opens a machine arm and it fires loud rounds off to a seemingly un-impressive location.

"EEP-mmpf" Bubbles yelps and Blossom covers her mouth as the barrage continues. Eventually the sounds of an underground installation caving in come to their ears, and then Blossom's eyes light up as she hears something-

"Damn, how did they know I was here?!" Blossom pops her head up to see it's nothing but Dexter, floating above the exploding lab, as expected. "When do we go in?" Bubbles whispers.

"Um, uhh... i-in a few moments... wait until the battle gets... started." Blossom lets out, very pre-occupied. Soon enough, it does begin!

Dexter flies above the machine, trying to catch it in a blind-spot, but it turns on a dime and fires an expert shot as Dexter, sending him flying upward- "NOW!" She yells out as they both fire into the lab at break-neck speed.

"W-Where do we go?" - "This way, come on!" Blossom yells as they fly through the collapsing lab. Large panels of iron plating fall and crumble around them, obscuring their sight, but they fly fast and true through the debris to find a room about to be destroyed. "NO!" Blossom yells out as she flies toward the ceiling, holding the falling objects up- "GET IN THE MACHINE BUBBLES... ARGH- I CAN'T... HOLD ON MUCH LONGER...!"

"A-Alright, please be careful...!" She timidly lets out as she enters the device. "GRRR..." Blossom grunts as she tries to hold it all back, but something gives and the debris falls all around her- "No...!" She says to herself as the machine is crushed. "Damn it!" She yells as she flies out of the room before it suffers complete destruction. The noise of the entire lab exploding and collapsing around her is deafening, and the path out is even smaller than before, until a stray rock strikes her on the back, sending her falling!

"Rocks... why did it have to be rocks..." She grunts as she slowly rises out of the rubble, she looks into the sky... it must have been hours since she got knocked out. "Bubbles... Dexter..." She says under her breath as she flies out of the rubble. She is sore all over, and to make matters worse, with the sun fully set, she can see the Moon... where Bubbles is probably all alone...

"Bubbles... be safe, I'm... I'm, coming..." She says to herself as she weakly floats away.

(===)

"HYA!" One girl yells out, breaking the Moon's very crust as a weapon against the other who dodges and uses her arm to launch a blue laser, but it is easily deflected. "Don't think you stand a chance, you might as well give up..." - "NEVER! I can't let you destroy this wor-" She tries to say as the other girl instantly lunges and collides into her chest, knocking her on her back, and all breath out of her!

"Guh... huh... hnn!" She tries to say, to no avail, she cannot form the words with them being beaten out of her. "Oh, Bubbles... why can't you just sit and let the big kids do what needs to be done..." Bubbles one remaining hand scratches the moon dust in frustration, she tries to get up but Buttercup puts her foot on her chest, forcing her down.

"Bloss... om... will stop... you...!" Foot still on her chest, Buttercup breaks into a small scowl. "So even Blossom is turning against us huh? Hmm..." She mumbles to herself, as her shadow rises. "Is this truly necessary, my Buttercup?" Him, having just been risen asks her with a dumb grin on his face.

"You know more than anyone, Him, that this world doesn't have a lot of time... Once this is over, and Model M is destroyed I'd like to retire victorious, by any means necessary." - "Even if it means killing your sisters?" - "Of course not..." She says as she lets her foot off Bubbles' chest, and she quickly gets up and backs away.

"Bubbles... stay the fuck out of our way and let us save this planet!" - "N-Never!" She yells as she flies away, toward Earth. She merely looks at her fly off, blue trail and all. "So... what are you going to do now?" Him asks. Buttercup merely stands there. "Everything I've sacrificed has been for them... even if they hate me for it I WILL save this pathetic planet..." - "How noble of you..." She walks away- "Shut the hell up, Him..."

(===)

Weakly floating above the city at night, she notices her house is completely surrounded. "Well that... sucks..." She says to herself, underestimating her own damage. "I hate rocks..." She winces at the pain and slowly loses altitude. "Damn... it..." She struggles to stay airborne, but she gives out only to fly down and hits the pavement, causing all drivers to veer off the road!

Several pedestrians run off at a moment's notice, but some stay, shock or awe on their faces. A few of them step forward, remembering: "W-Wait is that, Blossom? Of the Powerpuff girls?" - "Yeah... I think it is...!" They look to the sky, looking for anything that could have brought her down, seeing nothing they converge around her.

None of them seem to know what to do, they know it's Blossom... the hero. But they also know it's Blossom, the wanted criminal. Until that is, one girl, roughly 8 years old with scarlet red hair approaches the group and tells them all to get out of the way.

She puts her hand gently on her check, trying to coax her awake, to no avail. She checks her pulse... and it's positive. "We need to get her to a hospital." - "But-" - "NOW!" The men and women around her obey her words, also caving into their better judgment, she is a Hero, and she needs their help.

"Wow little girl, you sure are serious about this." One of them helping carry Blossom lets out. "Yeah, well... she deserves better then being face down in the road while the people she is trying to save tremble in their boots just because they were told she was 'bad.' Seriously..." The man sighs, the truth of the girl's words stinging him.

 ***Several hours pass...***

"Buh... Bubbles... nggh..." She mumbles in her sleep. Writhing and squirming she almost falls out of the bed, only to be caught by someone, waking her up. She looks up into her eyes.

"Huh... where am... huh?" She asks as she slowly gets back into position on her bed. She merely gazes at the girl for what seems like hours, certain she has seen her before. "Do I... know... you?" She asks confused. The girl breaks into a small frown.

"Well I guess you wouldn't remember me... it's been almost three years..." - "Three? But you can't be any older than ten or nine..." Blossom pauses again; trying to remember any children she might have befriended... three or so years ago was the start of the Chronometal wars...

Her eyes light up! "Wait... I think I remember you... you were good friends with Bubbles and... Lynn... Ruby, right?" She nods happily! "It's so cool to be remembered by a super-hero!" Blossom smiles too, but shakes her head. "Where am I, and what are you doing... WITH me? I'm wanted; you can't afford to be near me!"

"Yeah right, we aren't going to abandon you in the middle of the street as you are trying to save us all from Model M, AS USUAL! Everyone around here may have forgotten that, but I haven't!" She faces away, and out the window. It is still dark, and she knows Bubbles is probably all alone. "Well... thanks, but I have to get going." She jostles off the bed, surprised to be feeling almost 100% better!

"W-Wow, I feel... great!" Ruby snickers a little bit causing Blossom to look back, curious. "What?" With a beaming face, she takes a tube-like object out of her bag. She waves it around in the air with a toothy grin. "Wha? How did you... huh... Well, thanks." - "Don't thank me, thank Lynn." - "Lynn, huh?"

Ruby looks at Blossom confused. "What is it? Isn't Lynn your BFF?" Blossom blushes slightly at the childish gestures of Ruby. "W-Well... yeah, I guess..." - "Then why are you surprised?!" Ruby bolts off her chair and nearly corners Blossom as if she were an inquisitor! "It's... just... I-we haven't heard from her in a while...!" - "Really? I can take you to her..." - "HUH?!" She blurts out, nearly blowing Ruby away.

"Whoa, girl, use your inside voice!" Ruby taunts, completely unfazed. "Please... can you take me to ba... er- Lynn?" She giggles slightly, seemingly eager to take her, even without question. "Okay, follow me!"

*Some minutes pass, and down the road, Blossom gets more than a few glares walking seemingly un-aware that she is a target. But no-one really takes the moral injustice to call the authorities on her.*

They approach a seemingly un-special house. "She's inside, come o-" She tries to say before the door flies open- "RUBY, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT..." She pauses and looks at Blossom, who merely gawks back. Working up a quick blush she slams the door, causing a breeze to hit Ruby's hair.

"What was that all about?" Ruby says, getting no response. She looks back at Blossom who is seemingly zombified by the situation at hand. "Ugh, just come on." She beckons as she takes Blossom by the hand and into the house. Once inside, she closes the door, with Blossom in toe. "Lynn, I'm home!" She yells out causing what sounds like an avalanche in the kitchen, Ruby bolts in, worried.

"Are you okay?!" She yells out, getting no real response. "What is wrong with you, Blossom is here to see you!" The girl, who is seemingly Lynn lets out a deep and wrenched sigh that spans about ten seconds. Blossom breaks the tension: "Is that... really you?" A short pause crosses them before she comes out.

She looks into her ebony eyes, and notices she is wearing an apron. Looking at her attire, which is no longer themed after 'black,' she notices, she looks very... normal, if not like a total Mom. She blushes and sighs again. "Yeah... it's... me..." She scratches her head and looks back at Blossom with a sweating face.

"Am I going to have to call you, MOM just to get a straight answer out of you? Why are you acting so weird?" Ruby yells, catching both of their attentions. "Go on to your room, it's time for bed... I'll be up shortly to read you a story..." - "But-" - "Now, Ruby!" She scolds, sending her up the stairs in a huff. Once she is out of earshot, Blossom lets out a very crude statement.

"Holy shit..."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Tangent C is on the other end of the spectrum from Tangent A. While A was dark and gritty, C is filled with hope and heroic fervor. It paints Blossom as the obvious good guy and Dexter as the obvious bad guy, when when all the cards hit the table, who is on whose side?_


	7. Chapter 4A: The prospect of Extinction

The Chronometal Panic  
Tangent A: Dexter's Vision  
Chapter 4: The Prospect of Extinction

"Most of the lab is in shambles... the portal is broken, it would take us hours to reach the moon at this rate..." They stand in the ruins, musing. Dexter finally snaps his finger- "The military is going to attack The Hangar; if they think our abilities hold any water... judging from previous responses... this is inevitable."

He accesses a terminal and both Blossom's and Dexter's Chronometal shine slightly. "I uploaded schematics for the war machine into both of our systems." - "So we are going to take the fight to them?" - "That's the idea..." He says, punching in another code. "I sent information to the moon consoles... if Buttercup is still there she will know the situation... she will protect The Hangar from space."

They nod to each other as they fire out of the now useless lab that once belonged to Barasia.

"The military base is in Area 51... Go figure. It will take us about an hour of airtime to reach it; we have to stop that machine before we can even dream about finishing the plan!"

Before they fly off... they notice someone in the distance. Is... that?

*Later: on the Moon*

"Lab ruined... secure The Hangar. Blossom and I will attempt to... TAKE ON THE MACHINE?! Him we have to help them!" - "Didn't you JUST read that he wanted you to secure The Hangar?" - "Screw that, if they die, what's the point?!" She flies out of the lunar base toward Earth, before pausing...

"Wait..." - "Yeah..." - "Where is the base...?" She floats in space for a while before sighing. "It's okay, Buttercup... let's wait for them." - "Stop trying to cheer me up, it's almost over..." - "Having second thoughts?" Buttercup looks up to Him.

"About what? The plan?" - "I guess... but anything else in specific. Regrets about any decision made in these conflicts." Buttercup pauses, and looks to the Earth. "Nah... Nah... Nothing like that, it's still here- isn't it? It will all be worth it in the end." Him nods, pleased. "That's good... I don't want you to be uncomfortable when this is all over; it is nice that you aren't frightened."

"I didn't say I wasn't frightened... I just said I didn't regret our deal... their lives are worth more than mine... I would do anything for them..."

*Meanwhile*

"I'm surprised to see you just show up out of nowhere, Barasia." Dexter lets out. "Yeah well, I've been kind of doing my own thing... but it seems you guys are reaching the climax of whatever it is you are doing, eh?" She says.

"About that..." Blossom states. Barasia raises an eyebrow. "We could really use your help... we are all alone in this, it's just me, Dexter and Buttercup... we really need as much help as we can get." Barasia looks to the distance. "B-Barasia?" She shakes her head before redirecting her gaze into Blossom's eyes.

"Is killing every human being the only answer?" Blossom seems stumped by the question. Not so much the question itself, but who is asking this certain question. "You are the one who told us not to trust Humanity." - "Yes, yes I was... as a whole, it is deceitful... unmerciful... cruel. But... all of them? What about Utonium? What about Dexter?"

Dexter shakes his head. "We are accounted for. This was 'our' idea, after all." He says with no amusement on his face. Barasia sighs. "I... guess you are right... a lot of innocents will be lost this way, though..." Blossom holds her arm tight as she looks to the city in the distance.

"We... we know..." - "You can still call yourselves heroes after this?" - "What should we do, then?!" She yells! "Sit by and let Model M destroy everything?! There simply isn't enough power to destroy Model M... only... only its food source." - "Food source...?" Barasia asks enigmatically.

"Is that all they are to you?" - "What has gotten into you?!" Dexter yells. "First you tell us not to trust them ever, then you tell us to let them live? Well here's a fact, Barasia: Humanity has tried time and time again to KILL us, the people who have saved them countless times. Well now they killed so many heroes that have done nothing but help- that the entire world is on a one way slope straight to hell, and this is the only way to stop it!"

Barasia's stance loses strength, as she seems to give in. "Fine... I'll help... I knew that they were all scum..." She says powerfully. Dexter, almost insulted flies into the air. "Blossom..." He says, trying to find words. "Just... come on when you're done... I have to go!"

Now alone, Blossom and Barasia look around in random directions, neither willing to continue the conversation, before Blossom finally asks:

"Is something wrong, Barasia?" She laughs under her breath. "There's always something wrong... and there is always a solution. But what if the solution is the problem?" - "Uh..."

"I will help you guys, but... can I ask you something?" Barasia states, in a sorrowful manner Blossom doesn't recognize. She nods, afraid of the question.

"Are you okay with killing... everyone? The innocent... the children, children who could become great things... inventors, politicians... heroes..." Blossom looks away before answering.

"Those hypothetical situations don't apply here... there is no future for them to grow up in... everyone on Earth is dead, dying... or waiting for death. There... there is nothing else we can do- it's too late to change our minds..." Barasia seems to choke up. "I... see. Ha... I guess that's it then. No future. No hope. Only death..."

Blossom looks to Barasia who seems very hurt, with head turned to a direction to avoid making eye contact. She puts her arm on Barasia's shoulder. "There is hope; there is a future- just, not for humanity... not anymore..." Barasia looks over to Blossom, who seems to be wearing a strong face.

"This situation isn't easy. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do... and I haven't even done it yet. This is something we have to do... or the entire planet will be destroyed." - "What's the point of a planet with no people on it?" - "Life will go on... and as long as we have the power to protect it, that is what we will do!"

Barasia nods. "What you're saying makes logical sense... but logic isn't everything... it's logic that caused me to create the Chronometals... sometimes, a little empathy can go a long way..." - "Hesitance is our worst enemy at this point, we only have a few days until the world truly falls... we have to do whatever we can." Barasia laughs and turns around completely.

"When did you turn so cold, Blossom?" She asks with tears in her eyes, causing Blossom to recoil. "B-Barasia..." She asks before pausing. "You... don't have to help us if you don't want to." - "And if I were to resist you?!" Blossom pauses before taking a stern stance. "I don't know... I don't want to find out. Help us... please."

Laughing with tears in her eyes, Barasia speaks again. "FINE! I'll help you... I'll help you destroy the machine and... Kill everyone on Earth." - "Are you okay? I've never seen you like this before."

"I'm fine, let's go." She says with a sneer before flying off.

*Later...*

Bubbles stares into the horizon, Megaville far from their sub-urban house. The spine-like mountains surrounding it, a constant reminder of these wars. When gravity itself served Model M, tossing the very city into the air and by the skin of their teeth they managed to prevent a terminal velocity crash to Earth...

That was a long, long time ago... when the Powerpuff girls were a unified front, destined to save humanity from the forces of evil. But now? No-one is sure if any of the three are certain anymore... their paths so skewed that living day to day seems impossible without crushing regret.

But there is one, one who has never strayed from the path of what it means to be a hero, even in someone else's description, she stays firm and fights for what she believes in.

"I can't let them do this... not anymore; it is time I stop sitting around, crying. It is time for action!" She says to herself before flying into areas unknown!

*Meanwhile*

The harsh wind is blowing; a team of unlikely individuals lie in wait next to one of the most mysterious places on Earth... Area 51.

"It's in here... and to be fair, so are a lot of things that could be used against us, if my calculations are correct they should launch the attack in less than half an hour. I know time is of the essence, but now is the time we must wait." He says before putting his scanning device away.

"So what is my role here? Punch it to death?" The newest addition to their team lets out, un-amused. "Honestly? Whatever you can to keep this thing from ever making it to space, we will be helping you." He replies.

Blossom begins to speak up- "Wait, if we don't have a lot of time, how are we going to make it to the Moon after this is done?" - "Using a scanner Utonium and I invented, I have found that there is a prototype machine here that utilizes unstable antimatter as a form of Propulsion, even in its most primitive state it could get us to the Moon in a matter of seconds."

He cringes: "That is, of course... if we are successful." - "Way to lift the spirits." Barasia lets out.

They lie in wait, only a few minutes until the attack, until something is heard from far away. "Do... do you guys hear that?" Blossom lets out, causing the two others to pause and scan the area with their eyes and ears.

Barasia spots it before either of them- "BUBBLES?!"

*Back in his home...*

Sitting on his chair, distraught, Utonium seems to be lost in thought. "Bubbles... why did I tell her... now she is... damn it!"

He gets up and paces around the room. "Doesn't she know what we are... what they are... what..." He keeps trying to say, before cutting himself off. "What am I saying?! That's my little girl! I cannot let her do this to herself!" He yells as he runs to a secret room in his office.

*But of course...*

Now standing in clear view, Bubbles... the now single armed Powerpuff and admittedly weakest of the three stands defiant against the three super soldiers.

"I am not letting you do this any longer!" She yells out, shaking the ground! She looks over to Barasia with sad, yet angry eyes. "How could you, Lynn... we were friends, you fought with us to save humanity?! How can you follow them like this?!"

"B-Bubbles..." She lets out weakly. "What about Ruby?! How would you feel if she or her mother died?!" Her words spear Barasia in the chest, causing her to back away. "BUBBLES STOP IT!" Blossom roars! "I have had enough of your childishness, if you do not move I will move you myself, this world needs saving- not infantile fantasies!"

"INFANTILE?! How is it childish to want to save lives?!" - "They are going to die anyway!" - "That is just an excuse for mass murder! I will not let you do this!"

"And what are you going to do, stop us? I had hoped for your sake you would see it my way, but I guess this is unavoidable." Dexter lets out drawing his D-Saber. As he draws his weapon Bubbles goes into battle position, surprising Blossom and Dexter both- expecting the gesture to scare her off... but on the contrary-

Her face is one of pure rage, her large blue eyes piercing the souls of all who look in it.

"I am so sick of this! You will have to kill me to go through with your mass murder!" To their surprise, Bubbles draws first blood firing a blue ball at Dexter, when he jumps into the air to avoid it. She moves her arm, causing the ball to circle around, causing a dust tornado to engulf Dexter!

"Stop this now, Bubbles!" Blossom says- "FUCK YOU!" She roars as she lunges at her and lands an incredibly powerful attack to her face! "I'M HARDCORE NOW!" She yells as the air around her electrifies!

Barasia's eyes light up, having never seen Bubbles like this before. "B... Bubbles..."

The fight continues; Blossom and Dexter still using mock attacks, but having them backfire horrendously as her strength is obviously underestimated and they are constantly countered and sent flying!

"Don't make us do this, Bubbles!" Dexter lets out one last time. "You already chose this path, what is one more innocent to the likes of you?!" Her words both sadden and enrage Dexter. "Blossom... I am sorry." Dexter says as he flares his sword, as he often does before a serious battle.

Blossom nods, sure Bubbles will retreat before it gets too bad... They have only a few minutes before the machine launches an attack on The Hangar!

Blossom draws her B-Saber and sides with Dexter, as Barasia remains speechless in the back. "This is your last warning." Dexter says- with Blossom following. "Leave before you make us seriously hurt you!" They await no response as they fire at Bubbles, who doesn't even flinch.

"HA!" She yells as she barbarically charges at them! Where they impact causes a large scale explosion flinging dust in all directions! Barasia clenches her fists, not knowing who to fight for...

For Logic...?  
Or Empathy...?

Even being tag teamed by Chronometal wearing heroes, Bubbles stands up to their attacks at full power, laying no real blows due to their outrageous speeds, but taking no real hits either.

They attempt to flank her at both sides, knowing she only has one arm to defend with. But she roars out and a blue shockwave engulfs them, knocking them to the ground with painful impacts. They fire back from the dust to attack her, but she is already on the ground, charging something!

She holds a blue ball of energy in her hands and her eyes go wide with anger as it grows and grows before nothing within a mile of this area can see anything but blue!

"HYAAAAAAAA!" She screams as she launches a catastrophic laser at the heroes, who barely have time to dodge it! Both of them coming out slightly singed.

Both Blossom and Dexter look amazed, but they don't let up as they continue the attack!

Dexter bullets right for her but she stops him with one arm. Held in mid air he looks into her malice filled eyes, no devious smile, no innocent look. Just pure hatred...

She whips up a blue whirlwind and throws Dexter to the ground. The whirlwind blocks all vision and is strong enough to keep Blossom from penetrating it!

She raises her one arm as it becomes engulfed in a blue light, shaping into a sword. "It is time you died, Dexter!"

Engulfed by an energy tornado, no-one can see or hear the actions inside. Dexter is pinned to the ground by an enraged hero, who has marked him as a threat to those she protects. Bubbles stands over him with an arm permeating with superhuman energy!

The energy around the arm forms what looks like a blade, and as she slowly lowers it to Dexter's cheek, it penetrates with no resistance causing it to bleed immediately. Blood trickles down his face as he looks into the eyes of someone he cannot even recognize.

He underestimated her at every turn, mocked her at every chance he had. She meant nothing to him, and he began to view her as a nuisance. But now here he lies, his life a single thread she is about to cut with a blade made of rage and justice.

The energy tornado completely blocks his vision of anything but her and her deadly stare, but Dexter notes something.

He is not yet dead...

The blade lie imbedded in his flesh, but she is not pushing any further, but her face shows no sign of reluctance.

"I can feel your heart beating though the blade, Dexter... I almost forgot you had one..." She says simply, retaining a face unreadable. "I should kill you right now... and save this world..."

"Killing people to save a world? That sounds very familiar." He taunts. "Shut up... this is different..." - "Say what you will, you are the one in control of my life."

Bubbles starts to tremble, but she edges the blade further into his face, slicing more of it and causing blood to gush out. "All I want to do is live in peace... but how can it be called living if there is no-one to live with...?! I refuse to accept your world Dexter!"

"I had hoped you would understand, but it seems you are still attracted to the fantasy that the world gives a shit about anything but itself. If they had even a second your life would be smashed under their heel and they would do nothing but laugh!"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" She yells as the tornado loses focus!

"THE WORLD DESPISES YOU! THEY WILL WANT YOU DEAD EVEN IF YOU KILL ME!"

"WE WILL SEE ABOUT THAT!" She roars as she rises from him and begins to slash down onto his neck, before she is bashed away! The tornado vanishes and Dexter rises from the dust to view his savior.

It is Barasia...

The tornado is gone but the energy in the air causes an electric storm around them. They feel a deep rumbling in the ground beneath them-

"Oh no, it is too late!" Dexter yells as what looks like a rocket flies out of the Base! It pierces the electric storm leaving an ominous hole in the sky; through the hole they can see a faint shape in the distance. The Hangar!

Barasia rises as Bubbles looks upon her both astonished and disappointed. "Why...?" Barasia looks up into the air, through the hole in the storm. "I am not sure if this is the right thing to do, Bubbles. But this is all that is left... surely you know what will happen in only a few days."

"The professor told me... so what? Are we to just abandon everything that makes us heroes and murder the entire world?!" - "What defines a hero?" - "Someone who will stop at nothing to save the world! NOTHING!"

She extends her hand to the grounded Bubbles, who looks back surprised. "Then come help us save the world." Bubbles pauses. "But... what about Ruby? What about the professor... I..." She stutters. "I can't! I can't do that! I won't!" She yells as she bats her hand away and rises to her feet alone and begins to float into the air.

She gives one last look of sadness before flying after the war machine.

Dexter walks up to Barasia who merely looks into the hole in the sky. "Thanks for saving me back there... I had no idea she was so strong..." - "Yeah well, it's too late to go back now; we have to save this world. Your way." She turns around to look him in the eyes.

"You came this far with your philosophy, let's see if the world can accept it!" Dexter nods and looks up- "We need to chase after that thing, now." - "But it went so fast, how could we even try to catch it?!" Blossom lets out. Dexter looks at the base, its launch doors are still open. "We have to get to the experimental engine!"

*Moon...*

"Here it comes..." Him says. "I guess so, who would have thought it would come to this? One final showdown in space to decide the fate of the world."

As it nears, Buttercup begins to shake and shiver. "Are you alright?" Him asks.

She says nothing, eyeing the impending battle, the last battle of her life...

*Earth...*

"Everything's set. Who would of thought you would show up?" Dexter exclaims, pleased. "Yeah well, I couldn't let Bubbles do this to herself, I was going to get to The Hangar myself to stop this all, but to find you guys here... that was lucky!" Utonium lets out.

"Stop this how?" Blossom asks. Utonium takes a familiar looking vial out of his bag. It's the Chronometal gas that can end all of humanity in the right hands. "I had a backup ready, and I was going to sneak it into the launching mechanism... I had no idea that they had that war machine though... so I guess it's lucky that you guys showed up."

"Yeah, really lucky!" Dexter says before looking over to his group.

"Okay, guys... listen up. This engine is highly experimental, it is very likely that something BAD could happen, so... just putting that out there, if you want to leave this and follow us to The Hangar by flight alone, which is fine... just saying this before I press this red button." He emphasizes the button with the word 'launch' on it.

No-one speaks up and he smirks slightly. "Alright... Here

We

GO!"

He presses the button and they fire off at nearly the speed of light, quickly crossing the war machine before the engine stalls in space, leaving them drifting just outside of The Hangar. "I'm going to try to land this in the bay, but... you know... we are going VERY FAST SO HOLD ON TO YOUR ASS!"

He yells as he slides into the large hangar at terminal velocity, crashing into the bay wall and shattering the ship! Blossom, Dexter and Barasia are fine, but Utonium is gasping for breath! The vacuum of space is killing him!

Dexter notices this and punches the door into the inner installation, and tears it off, causing all of the air to fire out- he grabs Utonium and flies into the oxygenated zone with Blossom and Barasia. He opens another hatch and bolts into it before the entire level depressurizes. Once everyone is inside she shuts it and puts Utonium down.

He is hyperventilating, but all the while looking thankful. "No time for thanks, we have a world to save!" He yells out bolting into the control chamber. "Blossom, Barasia- you fly out and help Buttercup! This is going to be close!" He yells, disappearing behind another hatch.

Blossom and Barasia nod to each other before finding an ejection hatch. Barasia flies out first, but Blossom looks over to the Professor who looks like he finally caught his breath.

"I never wanted it to come to this... but I guess we don't have a choice, huh?" Blossom asks. "We never had the time to sit out and discuss a better plan... this is all we have, this is not the time for regret. If that machine destroys this station everything we have worked for was for nothing... I believe in you, I believe in all of you... go save the world, Blossom!"

She smiles and fires out of the hatch as Utonium rises and looks out of the Glass to see the entire Earth, the machine coming in fast and Blossom, Buttercup and Barasia preparing for it. "Bubbles... I am so sorry..."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _This is, I THINK, the last chapter before the epilogues unfold. The Chronometal Wars had 8 chapters and 1 epilogue, The Chronometal Panic has 4 chapters, but 3 tangents for them, totaling 8 chapters. 1, 2, 3A, 3B, 3C, 4A, 4B, 4C and then the 3 epilogues: ABC. The epilogues aren't insanely long, roughly the same size as a chapter. Back on Snafu, after all 3 of the tangents were finished, I posted what I called "Aftermaths." Here on fanfiction, I may just combine the aftermaths with the Epilogues._

 _But actually about this part, this was a serious part that solidified Bubbles in the story as "not just another victim." Without Blossom's support, she struck out on her own and remembered that, when push came to shove, she was arguably the most powerful (albeit most unstable) of her sisters. Her capacity for bloodlust can reach scary levels, as you may or may not see in the epilogue._


	8. Chapter 4B: Dawning Upon the Truth

The Chronometal Panic  
Tangent B: Model M's Return  
Chapter 4: Dawning Upon the Truth

"...You alright...?"

"...Can you hear me...?"

"BLOSSOM!" - "WHAT?!" She yells as she nearly collides with Bubbles' head by sitting up too fast! "Oh, uh... sorry." Blossom apologizes. She looks around, she is in the house, and it is getting dark. "How long was I out?" Bubbles looks around, not sure how to say this.

"A... couple days..." Blossom fires off of the bed and looks out the window. "ARE YOU SURE?! This is not good; we don't have a lot of time!" She runs out of the room, before realizing Bubbles isn't following her.

"Come on, we have a world to save!" - "Why fight it?" - "Huh...?"

Bubbles turns her head to look Blossom in the eyes. "Why Fight It...?! Everyone is already dead! It was your fault, you couldn't decide what was what! Who was the Hero? Who was the villain? And now they are all dead, and we are next!"

"Bubbles?!" Blossom cries out, as the room turns red. "What the hell?!" - "We are already dead, accept your failures..." - "BUB-

-BLES!" She screams out, waking up in her bed! She flies up the stairs into the room. "What is it?! Are you okay?!" Blossom looks around, everything seems normal... but it is getting dark outside none the less.

"How long was I out?" - "A couple hours... the system completely drained your energy." Blossom climbs out of the bed, before she notices something.

She is not wearing her Chronometal, and is in fact- completely naked. She blushes slightly, but facing away from Bubbles she does little more than that. "Was it really so bad that you had to remove everything?" Bubbles nods, almost scared. "It drained so much energy that the Professor said you were at 'zero.' But it was worse than that, the Chronometal on you was taking you below what was thought to be nothing."

She continues, now sitting on the bed opposite sided of Blossom.

"We were so worried, your life seemed to be vanishing before our eyes, if it wasn't for Dexter we never would have been able to save you." Blossom's eyes go wide as she asks- "Dexter? He's here?" - "He... he was... he said he felt you dying from so far away that he came to save you."

"Save me?" Bubbles blushes slightly. "Well... to keep it short 'WE' weren't the ones to undress you, he was." Blossom lifts the blanket over her to prevent the world from seeing her like this. Bubbles giggles slightly before lying down beside the lump in the bed.

"It was magical really; he was giving you what looked like Chronometal CPR. His metal was transferring energy right into your chest, before we knew it you were breathing on your own, but your entire body was lacerated from the subtraction of natural energy... he removed the rest of your clothing and operated on you at a pace not even I could keep track of."

Blossom head pears out of the blanket as she continues. "In mere seconds the gashes and cuts on your body seemed to disappear as your breathing became more stable. He saved your life in seconds using skills neither the Professor nor I could even fathom. After that, he left. It was so simple to him, like it was second nature."

"Did he really do all of that? I thought that he marked us as enemies..." - "That's what I though too, but to be honest he never made eye contact with either of us. He only answered my question when he left. He might still not trust me..." Blossom leaves the bed and begins to redress.

She flexes her arms and moves her fingers around. "I still feel a little weak, but I guess it could have been so much worse..." She looks out of the window. "Dexter..." She says simply before turning around, noticing Bubbles is still lying on the bed. As she looks closer it appears she has fallen asleep. She must have been so worried that she never went to sleep...

Blossom covers her up and leaves the room.

"Dang it feels weird to not have my Chronometal on." She says as she walks down the stairs, to see something unexpected.

Buttercup sitting on the couch, watching TV. Next to her is her Chronometal in its condensed state.

"Buttercup? What are you doing here?" She tears her eyes from the television to meet hers, before her eyes go wide. She runs off the couch so fast Blossom barely has time to see her move before she is locked in an embrace!

"You're okay! You're really okay!" - "You're freaking me out, Buttercup!" She lets go and begins to sniffle. "When Dexter told me you almost died, I couldn't bear to be anywhere but here, I had to make sure that you were alive at all costs!" She says, as Blossom feels something weird, before Buttercup's dress turns brown.

"Wait, where was Him just now?" - "Inside you." Blossom squints as she views herself. "Well, you are both red, so he didn't change your color or anything." Her shadow rises and Him smiles as he floats over her.

"It wasn't really required... I was there to prevent you from dying if you took a turn for the worst... it seems it wasn't needed however, Dexter's healing powers are extraordinary!"

"Thanks... all of you." Blossom says before Utonium opens the basement door. "Buttercup, I have the... BLOSSOM! You're awake! That's good, come down here, I have something you both have to see!" Buttercup beckons her down as she follows Utonium.

Blossom pauses for a short while before following them.

'Are we all on the same side again?' she wonders to herself as she goes downstairs.

Utonium accesses a computer, instantly boring Buttercup, but attracting Blossom. "This is the data I collected from your scan before it overloaded, Blossom. I thought I saw something strange, and it turns out- I was right!"

He says this excited, but at the same time hesitant. "What is it?" Blossom asks. "Well... there is, uh..." Him rises from the shadows, but doesn't say anything, feeling the situation around him. "Spit it out!"

"There is another Model M, floating behind the dark side of the moon, it is enormous... larger than all of Megaville!" Blossom pauses and looks at Him, who looks back. He nods, clearly knowing that there was already a Model M there.

Buttercup seems stunned, adding nothing to the conversation. Blossom moves the conversation forward.

"What type of Model M is it?" Utonium accesses the database to show Blossom something unsettling.

"It's nothing we have ever seen. We know Malevolence is self sustaining and capable of being sentient... Malignance feeds off emotion itself to destroy the world... and Mother feeds off of the entire world to make offspring, but this... this doesn't seem to feed off of anything! This is perplexing, because it is so large!"

"So this is a new type of Model M? That's very..." Blossom pauses... "Scary..." She says hesitantly.

"So what's the plan?" A voice heard from an unknown direction lets out.

"D-Dexter?" Buttercup asks, looking around, but unable to find him. "I'm outside, I am talking to you all using a new ability I found out when healing Blossom." - "Can you hear us talk back?" Buttercup asks. "Yes I can." He pauses for a moment. "There's a new Model M... one behind the moon. This is troubling... it completely negates my goals of eliminating Model M's food source... if this new Model M feeds off of something other than suffering and Death, killing humanity would be a total waste."

Bubbles walks down the stairs, now rested from her nap. "So... we can be allies again?" She asks, sleepily. A short pause permeates the air. "Yes, Bubbles... it seems you and Blossom were right. I jumped to the wrong conclusion thinking Model M was so simple as to be defeated simply by cutting of its food source... I should have known..." He says before pausing again.

They hear the door open, and before them is the one and only Dexter. Bubbles stares at him as if he was a threat, but she doesn't say anything. "So I'll ask again... What's the plan?" Utonium clears his throat and begins to speak again. "Yes, well... There is something about it I haven't mentioned." Dexter and Blossom turn around to meet the professor's words.

"Ever since Blossom scanned it with such a high powered device, it has been slowly drifting around from the Dark side to the front..." Everyone seems silent. "So... it's coming for us?" Buttercup lets out.

"Y... Yes, there is something else I should mention as well..." He pauses, building tension. "The Model M swarms on Earth have... well... stopped." - "R-Really?!" Bubbles lets out, excited! "Well... sort of... they have all, gathered..." - "Gathered?" - "Yes, as soon as we scanned that new Model M, the swarms have stopped, and are grouping up..."

Dexter moves forward. "I want to examine your findings." - "Of course, Dexter." They nod to each other as Dexter sits at his terminal.

"The... 'Plan' per say, is prepare for the worst." - "Some plan." Buttercup sputters. "Well, it's a little more than that... there is a Weapon that was designed to prepare for such a thing." Dexter's ears perk up.

"The prototype weapon? The one designed for space combat?" Utonium turns around- "You know about that?" Dexter nods, still using the computer. "That's... one of the weapons I'm talking about." - "There's another?" Dexter asks, diverting his full attention.

"The Military has begun construction of another Cannon, the kind we designed before this large misunderstanding." - "Misunderstanding? Bubbles is missing an arm!" Buttercup yells. "Yeah... that was the catalyst behind all of this... if it wasn't for us finding this new Model M, I'm sure I would have... done something foolish..." Dexter says, still reading Utonium's data.

"So where is this cannon being built?" Blossom asks. "The Colorado Mountains, next to a little town." - "I bet it sucks ass." Buttercup shivers. "I hate the cold..." - "So this new cannon, it can help us against this new Model M?" - "Hopefully... it was designed for a Malignance Typed Model M, but I'm sure it can help us with this one."

Blossom sparks an idea. "What if I can charge it with my Chronometal?" The question causes Utonium and Dexter to bolt their heads to her. "Blossom, I will not let you do that to yourself again." Dexter says simply. "You almost died last time... if I didn't show up, you..." He shakes his head.

"I don't want to imagine a world without you in it, Blossom." He says as he returns to his work. "Dexter is right, Blossom... it is far too dangerous..." - "I see... I was just thinking out loud." The room goes silent, save the pitter patter of Dexter's fingers on the keyboard.

"I see..." Dexter says, addressing the group. Before any of them can ask, he speaks up again:

"The Chronometal Scanner is powered by Chronometal technology. Boosting it to such highs must have attracted whatever was behind the moon. If everything that has happened has happened for a reason that means the Lunar Model M is connected the Earth Model M!"

Utonium nods, seemingly coming to the same conclusion. "How much time do we have left?" Blossom asks and Dexter shakes his head. "Not long... a day at max." Bubbles gasps, while the others in the room look to one another... before Blossom speaks up. "I knew we didn't have too much time, but... a day?" - "I am not too sure myself, but the Model Ms are acting erratic, as if we weren't supposed to ever discover this lunar Model M."

Him, who has been silent this whole time, begins to speak, commanding the attention of everyone in the room.

"A day? One twenty four hour period? Yes... that is indeed all you have. You must make a choice, Dexter and Blossom. Hard choices, ones that would shake the very foundation of the Earth! The end draws near, and the Ark craves temporal stability. If you can manage to destroy the entire of the Model Ms... Or at least incapacitate them, the Ark will return to full power, and this world will once again know fleeting peace."

"So even the embodiment of hell itself gives us his blessing?" Dexter asks. "Then we cannot possibly fail, given he is the only higher power we have left."

As the others begin to talk amongst each other, Him is in pause. 'The only higher power left...' he thinks to himself. His uncertainty seems to travel into Buttercup, who picks up on it and raises her head to speak to him.

"What's wrong?" Him says nothing, merely viewing his claws. "Him, what is wrong? Tell me!" - "It is nothing, Buttercup. Nothing at all..." He says as he regains his composure and vanishes into the shadows.

"Buttercup?" She asks herself. "Not... 'My' Buttercup? What has gotten into him?" After a short while, she feels a tugging on herself, a gesture she is familiar with.

"Just come back in an hour, Him..." She says as she goes from Brown to Green.

*Meanwhile, with another family...*

"Be safe! WATCH OUT FOR TRAFFIC!" She yells as the young girl lets off mock reassurances. "That girl..." She says to herself as she begins to re-enter the house- before being caught by a strange power.

"I know this feeling..." She says to herself before she turns around. "You..." - "Yes, Barasia... or is it... Lynn, now? It is I... How long do you insist on living this lie?" - "L-Lie?! Why are you here, Him?" - "The world itself is on a slippery slope toward my domain; Hell. It is doomed, for lack of a better term."

She looks around her but everything seems fine. "Doomed? What do you mean?" - "Destiny is unraveling at the seems, and it needs you to be at the heroes' sides." She looks Him in the eye, before turning around. "That's who I was, but not anymore... I've settled down..." - "Your love for this girl, it is heartwarming... yes, she lost her mother in the wars... but the entire world will be lost without your intervention." He states before walking near her.

"Isn't it my choice?" - "Of course, I am nothing if not fair... I am just telling you this... because..." He cuts himself off as he raises his claws into the air. The ground begins to rumble slightly as a familiar power rises around them.

"No- that's impossible... you-" She tries to say as a device rises from the Earth. A device, loosely resembling a 'T' and colored a glorious silver. It is the one, the only:

"The Ark...!" She huffs. "Yes, Barasia- the Ark. I know how you have searched for it all this time during these events... well, this one is mine, bound to my very existence... but I can tell you where to find Mandark's derelict Ark... Under one condition!"

Him and Barasia stand in a strange looking room, obviously scientific... but it has a few subtle tweaks to make it look almost home-furnished.

"So, I was on the right track all along?" - "Indeed, all you need is to push a little harder... the Ark is close to the bottom." - "I'm already on floor like; what? I've just created the one hundredth thing." - "Thing?" - "Don't play dumb, you are HIM. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

They look at each other before Barasia cocks her head. "W-What, you... don't know?" Him pauses, not sure of himself. "Now that I think about it-" He states before continuing. "I cannot detect or foresee anything past this door..."

"Really?" She asks. "Maybe it's the Nano-steel. That crap works on everything." He shakes his head. "I can feel the past, present and future. But I cannot feel through this area... why?" She shakes her head before inputting a command, forcing the large door open.

"Shall we?" She asks. Him, looking almost afraid, steps into the dark halls.

Following Barasia at a safe pace, he takes notice of several pods. "I can feel... something... something strange..." - "Are you okay?!" Barasia yells, un-amused. "Y-Yes... let's keep going." Barasia sighs and continues.

They reach a stairwell and climb down the stairs. Every flight seeming longer than the last, before Him can no longer see the roof of the room they once entered.

They reach Barasia's last created floor. Unlike the others, which were artistically crafted and futuristic looking, this one is covered in dirt, walls and all. "This level is incomplete; the next in the line of the hundredth will be graced with this floor." Him looks at the wall, it splays:

Sub-Level thirteen. "You... sure have been busy..." - "Yeah well, being a mom and NOT a superhero gives... or rather; Gave me a lot of free time, and I don't feel like being alone when Ruby leaves... so I feel like I should have infinite children to accommodate my immortality, you know?" - "Immortality...?" Him asks.

"Well, I don't age... and I certainly don't plan on dying any time soon." - "Right... right..."

Standing in the middle of the room, Barasia simply pats the dirt. "How much farther?" - "Not too much... another ten floors: Max." - "Floors, huh? I'll get to those LATER!" She yells as she punches through the Earth!

Him floats after her as she makes impressive progress punching and jabbing through solid rock, before they know it- she falls into a cave!

"WHOA!" She yells as she catches herself in mid-air, almost forgetting she could fly. "Haven't had to fly in a while... huh...?!" She stutters as she looks around.

"What the hell... is this place?!"

"Him has been gone a long time..." Buttercup says to herself as they continue along. "What's that?" Bubbles asks. "Nothing... just passing the time by talking to myself, God forbid I remember where we are for a minute... ugh..." She says, holding her arms to her core in an attempt to get warm.

The snow is starting to die down slightly. "I freaking hate the cold!" Buttercup exclaims as she sniffles. "It's not much longer now." Utonium yells to the group.

"Are you sure it is even here? The last cannons were built in the open, if this one is so hard to find that we can't even locate it from the air... I mean... what's the point?" - "It's here, I promise... ah! There!" He yells as he points to a door.

As they begin to enter it, Bubbles asks a question. "How do the people in the town live like this?" - "What do you mean?" - "I mean, I picked up a newspaper when we passed through... it seems to of been destroyed more then Townsville... and to my knowledge there aren't any superheroes here."

"Ha, I guess they learned to be self sufficient. The mountains make people tough!" - "Or numb to the fact that this place is dangerous..." She says as she throws the newspaper on the ground. Across its front says: 'South Park News.'

*Later...*

Standing in the center of it, she looks around, as if she were on an Alien Planet. She holds a device in her hands; it is the one she desired all along...

"How does a place like this exist without being found?" - "That does not matter, but now you have the Sleeping Ark. With it, you can help this world, you can save this world!"

"Yeah, but how? With the power of Time Travel, we can only go forward or back about ten years, give or take. The universe is still very unstable. And you said that even with all of our combined powers, this Universe is doomed... so why even have the Ark?"

"THIS Universe is doomed... but we can bend space and time and travel to a newer Universe... but this one has something ours does not... a new Chronometal!" After that final statement, Barasia looks around one last time.

"Still, this place is like a temple... I have to check it out later..." - "You have all the time in the world to examine this area... come, we have an Omniverse to save." They begin to fly back up Barasia's hole, before Him feel something disturbing. "You... go on alone, Barasia, I have to do something on my own." After he says that he vanishes from sight.

The area Him is in is unfamiliar to anyone alive or dead. It seems to be a large Crystal floating in the middle of an even larger cavern, one filled with Magma and one that expands so far you cannot see the ends of it. The magma swirls and spins in circles, as if defying gravity... as if protecting the Crystal.

Him floats toward the crystal, which seems to resonate with his presence.

"It's been a while, I've been bored." - "How is that even possible? You exist outside of space-time!" - "Having everything that ever was at your fingertips means nothing if the story has no ending. Imagine reading the first half of a book over and over and over and over-"

"I get it-" - "And over and over and over-" - "I GET IT!" Him roars out! "No need to get snippy... now, why are you here?" - "I couldn't sense certain things about Barasia's lab. It's as if they were shielded from the sight of Destiny."

The crystal shines a small bit, before dimming down. A being floats out of the solid crystalline walls. He is human looking, solid metal body, metallic face and a large devil-like wing splaying out of his right shoulder.

"I just felt it too, now that you mentioned it... but- It felt like Ark Beta." - "Beta? But Barasia has it now... why was I feeling it in her lab, but no-where else?" - "My only guess would be Briarus... he must be tampering with fate." - "Why would he shield her lab?" - "I have no idea, I must admit. But he must of found something in there worth protecting from the rest of the Omniverse... something like, a messiah..." - "MESSIAH?! Barasia is building a Messiah?! How is that even possible?!"

*Back at Barasia's House...*

Barasia stands in her new back yard, flowers and grass abound. It is a serene location, but it brings only little comfort to Barasia's troubled mind. "A new Chronometal? Alternate dimension or not, it seems to defy logic. There is no artificial life-form anywhere between now and the previous or next fifteen years... and this Ark will not go any further than those 2 extremes..."

She looks troubled, using logic against herself. "Well... there is one... me..." She stares at the Ark. "Am I... the next Chronometal?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _This chapter was very much in tune with the Original Story than the other ones were or will be. The theme of "An overbearing presence driving us all together" is a very common trope among hero novels, especially when those in the hero group have differentiating opinions. Here, the Lunar Model M will drive Dexter back to his old friends. They of course, still don't truly trust one another. NOTHING was actually resolved, but instead a common enemy is forcing them together. I'm a sucker for things like that. Lets find out what happens later, eh?_


	9. Chapter 4C: Eyeing the Dark Heavens

The Chronometal Panic  
Tangent C: The Hero...  
Chapter 4: Eyeing the Dark Heavens

(After a few minutes to themselves, catching up... as well as mutual gawking at each other, the two find themselves in Barasia's back yard during the darkness of night.)

"I was actually going to try to find you guys pretty soon, but I never had the time..." - "I always imagined you were pretty busy... but, being a Mom? I have to admit... give me ten lifetimes and I still never would have guessed." Barasia blushes slightly, sipping tea.

"And that, TEA? I mean... aren't you a robot? Can you even drink tea?" - "W-well, I can taste..." She says before covering her mouth. "It's... more a nervous habit. I noticed all of Ruby's teachers and friends moms drinking it... I thought it would make me seem normal."

"Why do you want to be normal?" Blossom asks, eyeing Barasia's clothing.

A classy yet not at all revealing dress with refined adornments, and she is even wearing high heels. As she views her attire, something hits her in the back of the mind.

"Wait, you still look barely older than Ruby though!" Barasia scratches the back of her head. "Not a lot of people ask that question though; I think they think it is impolite. Especially if they know Ruby's mom... you know..."

"Oh... right..." Blossom remembers. "How... how did she die?" Barasia sighs and puts her tea down.

"I... don't want to go into too much detail. But it was during the end of the first war." - "WHAT?! That soon? What happened?!" Barasia shakes her head. "Like a lot of children during that time, she got swept into a mass-orphanage. The stories she told me were... unsettling. I'm glad she turned out fine, however... but I can't leave her, not again. It was 'my' fault after all."

Blossom turns away. "Our fault you mean." Barasia smiles a small bit at the attempt to cheer her up, then shakes her head. "Now you know... but I want to know what I can do for you." Blossom nods and faces Barasia and looks into the night sky, toward the Moon.

"Something terrible is happening, Barasia. After you left, the world turned its guns on us... Bubbles has lost an arm, and Buttercup and Dexter seemed to have lost their minds. The professor is in prison... and now if it wasn't for Ruby I probably would have been dead."

"About that-" Barasia cuts Blossom off with: "You said she had your analgesic from before the Chronometal Wars?" - "Yeah, she said she got it from you... but I didn't even know if you were still alive, let alone where you were or what you were doing."

"Well, it actually isn't yours... I copied it." - "Copied? Why?" - "I wanted to be sure I had the best medicine on the planet for Ruby." - "Oh, I see..."

After a short delay, both Blossom and Barasia feel a short and sharp rumble. It passes in less than a second... but after a few seconds they feel it again.

"What is this...?" Barasia asks. Blossom seems to dart her eyes around back and forth, certain she has heard and felt this somewhere before...

It pulses again and again, before she finally gasps! "BUBBLES!"

*In the sky...*

Weakly floating above her house, knowing Blossom is not inside; she continues to deeply yelp in all directions. "I feel kind of like a lighthouse..." She says to herself softly. She begins to yelp again, but before she can do it, Blossom is already in her face!

"BWAHHH!" She yells, knocking both herself and Blossom back! "Easy girl!" Blossom teases. She looks below her, to what was once her house.

The windows are shattered, the doors are beaten in, and the city has a large ground patrol. "Are you okay, Bubbles?" - "Where were you just now?" - "Oh, uh... j-just with Barasia..." - "Can you take me to her, please?"

Blossom eyes Bubbles, she seems to have quite the story to tell about what she saw on the Moon. "Okay, follow me."

*On the ground...*

She holds a glass of tea with her only hand, she raises it to her lips... but her hand is too shaky, so she puts it down. Barasia has been staring at her body the whole time, making her slightly uncomfortable... but she doesn't mention it.

"I'm surprised you heard that Blossom, it's been a very long time since we had to locate each other without calling attention to ourselves." Bubbles says, now eyeing the Moon. "I don't want to sound like we don't have a lot of time left... but now Dexter and Buttercup know we are not on their side... whatever it is they are doing exactly, I have the feeling we have to find out and stop it, now."

Blossom looks around, she views herself; she is still slightly bruised from the collapsed lab. She notices that Bubbles also seems pretty beaten up too, but she doesn't know from what.

"Where did you get that bruise from, Bubbles?" Blossom asks, causing Bubbles to sigh.

"Buttercup..." Blossom pauses and eyes the ground. "Has she lost her mind...?!" - "I don't know... but there isn't much we can do to convince her, she seems dead set on this- and I don't know why." Blossom looks up, noticing that Barasia isn't here. "W-Where did she go?"

(In Barasia's House)

"Don't go... please! Don't leave me alone again..." She brushes her hair back and reassures her with a peck on the forehead. "I will be back, I promise... go to sleep and I will be here in the morning, okay?" - "But you are going to do hero stuff... how do I know you will come back...?" She says through a quivering lip and quaking voice.

She embraces her and closes her eyes. "I will never leave you again... that's how you will know... I promise, Ruby... that I will be with you for as long as I live..." She hiccups in her arms, trying to fight back the tears. "O-Okay... I'll... trust you..."

She relents her grasp and looks her in the eyes. Hers are large and watery, just like the day she first met her. She gets off of the bed and walks out of the door, but not before casting one last glance back, she is watching her walk away silently, putting faith in the hope that she will come back by morning.

She closes the door...

She exits to the back yard in her updated Attire. "Woah..." Blossom slips out, viewing the new Barasia.

Black pants, white shoes, black jacket and white gloves. She looks like she was all those years ago in her back yard after she appeared out of the portal. When she was with... him.

"We have a world to save... and I have to be back by breakfast."

*Somewhere...*

"Are you sure...?" - "I was there... I'm the one who threw the punches... I'm more than sure." He shakes his head and looks over the lunar horizon to the Earth.

"Blossom... ha... I guess that's why I chose her after all." - "What do you mean, Dexter?" - "This all happened because of actions what feels like hundreds of years ago, but in reality it cant be any longer than fifteen years... I was always a brat as a kid, and kind of merciless as... well... as what I am now."

He looks at the Hangar and recites from memory. "You may not remember what happened at the crash... but after that horrible incident that caused the entire world to... well, die; I knew I had to pass the baton of the world to someone else. That someone was Blossom."

Buttercup's shade rises, but this time he is not wearing an evil smirk. "I remember, Dexter. And now you are feeling that you made the wrong decision."

Dexter merely stands there, facing away from them. What feels like hours goes by before he responds. "Somewhere down the line, I made a huge mistake... but it wasn't with Blossom. This proves it."

"Wh-What do you mean...?" Buttercup asks, baffled. "I gave her all the power she needed to take up the mantle of the world's single most important hero. And now she has targeted us. If anyone here has a perfect moral compass, it's that girl."

Buttercup smirks and laughs a small bit, before cracking up; Dexter following suit, holding his sides as they collapse to the ground in laughter!

They both sigh, in the lunar dirt looking at Earth. "She was always right as far as I can remember..." Buttercup reminisces. "When either Bubbles or I thought we knew better, everything turned out worse... ha! Maybe she's right? Maybe we are doing the wrong thing?"

"Men of science never shrug off the possibility that everything they have lived for was a giant lie. I won't mince words; it's possible everything I have worked for was wrong."

Buttercup sits up as Him sits down beside her.

"I just can't forgive what they have done to us- what they have done to every hero on the planet. They brought this on themselves." - "But you two have the power to stop this." Him replies. They both look at Him. "Everything until now has been of your free will. If you wish to stop; stop."

Dexter chuckles a small bit before standing up. "I can't do that." He says, causing Buttercup to look up at him.

"If Blossom is truly the hero we all think she is, then even if we stop, we will all still die. There may have been a time to stop this without erasing humanity, but that time is far gone. We have a day left before not even The Hangar can stop Model M. And once that happens, I know for a fact she will die trying to protect them. And WE will die trying to protect her." Buttercup rises from the lunar dust as well and walks to his side.

"I will do everything in my power to ensure my sisters make it out of this alive! Saving the world is merely a bonus." Dexter smiles at her and replies. "My thoughts exactly."

*Meanwhile...*

Right in the belly of the beast, the three girls find themselves at the mercy of those who have sworn to kill them.

"You came peacefully, that is good. But I take it you came for a reason?" A man through the intercom states. Blossom looks around. Thousands of men with high tech weapons are all pointing at her. Red dots envelope Bubbles and Barasia, even more accented by the darkness of night.

"I came to deliver a warning of what will happen in less than a day, and to ask for your full co-operation in preventing it." - "Very well, tell us what is so important, and we may consider it."

"Thank you... are you all familiar with an environmental satellite code-named 'The Hangar'?" - "Yes, we have been told by Utonium that something will happen regarding it, but we have no details. And nothing to fall back on."

"It's Dexter." - "Dexter you say?" The intercom goes silent as the restless soldiers begin to fidget. "What about Dexter?" - "He is going to administer a Chemical that is fatal to humans by the end of tonight. If his calculations are correct; and let me stress that he is very good with his calculations: Every single human will be dead by sun-up."

A large delay once again sweeps the military base. "Why would he do this?" The intercom blares, as the voice is obviously not the same person who was speaking before. It must have been a panicked private.

"As many of you know, Model M... the 'planetary malignance' feeds off of humanity, or more specifically its combined emotions. He has learned that Model M will destroy the entire planet; using the torture of humanity as a fuel source to detonate the planet's core... he is seeking to... 'save the world' by killing all of humanity."

The soldiers, no longer comfortable pointing their weapons at the girls relent and begin talking amongst themselves as another pause sweeps the base.

"I guess that makes sense..."  
"Why? What's a world without us?"  
"Dexter? But... I toasted his honor!"

A small debate breaks in the ranks, before the intercom blares again, causing silence before it starts to speak.

"Everything you are telling us adds up to the story Utonium told us, and whatever little information we have at hand. Until this situation is handled we will put your... capturing... on hold. Until then, stay put and let us-"

"Can't let you do that, sorry." Bubbles spits out coarsely. "This is a hero problem and it will have a hero conclusion. With, or without your help, we just came to tell you 'we' aren't the enemies. So please, get out of our way or back us up."

"I'll back you up!"  
"Shut up Ted, it's not our place!"  
"ONE DAY?!"

The outburst from one of the soldiers causes a delayed panic in the corps. "Yes, one day. Not even that. THIS NIGHT. We need to strike now, or all is lost." Barasia exclaims to the base and its units.

"Very well Powerpuff Girls, we will support you... we have one thing we can use to help you. It will be in the air by the hour. I hope you all can stall Dexter until then." - "P-Powerpuff... girls...?" Barasia slips out, causing a wry smile to cross Bubbles' face.

"We're sisters now!" She exclaims, before Blossom sours the mood. "Sorry to ruin the fun, but we have another sister to take care of." She says pointing to the sky.

"P... Powerpuff Girls... away?" Barasia lets out confused, causing Blossom to nearly burst out laughing.

She regains her composure and points to the stars: "Neo Powerpuffs! Forward!"

"This is really it, I guess..." Dexter lets out, looking out the glass window through the starry skies toward Earth. "I'll... I..." Buttercup tries to say. Dexter tries to pick up her words but she continues on her own:

"I can't let them get in; if they make it here we lose. I will stop them at all costs! I hope Blossom doesn't take this too far and backs off once she realizes she is beaten..." Buttercup lets out with a mixture of fear and uncertainty, causing Dexter to follow her words with hollow reassurance.

"Maybe she will call our bluff and push on even through insurmountable odds, knowing we won't finish her off?" - "Yeah, well... I'm not going to be so lenient on Barasia." Dexter frowns a bit. "I agree, unfortunately. She was our ally for much of the previous wars, but her connections to Blossom and Bubbles will force her to be our enemy. If they won't stop we can use her as a hostage."

"Assuming of course we can take her as one." - "You have more power here than anyone, Buttercup and Him. I want you to hold them off as long as possible, I will try to throttle the firing mechanism as fast as possible, but even then it will take a few minutes." He says once again looking through the window.

They are coming...

Only a few miles from 'The Hangar' the three girls recap their plan. Starting with Blossom.

"Okay, once more from the top, you there general?" - "Yes, Miss Blossom." - "Good."

"First, we near The Hangar, if we encounter no resistance, the war machine will begin its outer assault on the cannon itself, while Barasia Bubbles and I head in to deal with Dexter and Buttercup. If something does indeed give us resistance, Barasia and Bubbles will stay out with the war Machine to defend it and help in combat."

Barasia nods and starts talking about her role: "When all threats are neutralized Bubbles and I will work on blowing out the coolant nodes on the lower side of The Hangar, forcing an overheat and neutralizing the potential of the entire cannon. During this time, the war machine will destroy what is left of the cannon, and then blow The Hangar out of the sky once we have the Chemical under control. Any questions?"

A short pause before Blossom and Barasia nod. "Then let's do it..." - "Forward!" The man in the intercom lets out, as a very large machine zooms past them, toward The Hangar!

For the first few seconds, everything seems fine, before a red light blinds them! As the light dims, all can see Buttercup stands between then and The Hangar!

She floats there, as the girls and war machine stop.

"Don't do this Blossom... don't make me hurt you..." - "Get out of the way Buttercup, we have a world to save!" Bubbles snaps back with, not waiting for Blossom to respond!

Buttercup shakes her head, gritting her teeth and baring her fangs. "I can't let you go forward! Humanity is doomed, don't you fucking get it yet?!" - "We have fought back from worse!" Bubbles retaliates!

"This is the single most devastating thing to ever blight this planet! If we don't get rid of it now, ALL of us, you, all of humanity and even the entire world will crumble! I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!"

"Then defend yourself, we are here as heroes, and we don't intend to back off!" Blossom yells as she rushes for the air-lock, attempting to break in.

"RHAAAAAGH!" Buttercup yells as her being is enveloped in divine fire, blowing Blossom back and halting the others!

As the fire dissipates, only a demonic mirror image of Buttercup remains. With large wings, and a body roughly ten times the size as normal, she extends her palms to the group!

"THE END IS NOW!"

The war machine rushes for Buttercup and is held back easily, as Barasia flies backwards, only to have bony constructs fly out of Buttercup's form and pierce her left arm!

As she increases her grip on the machine, it begins to overheat and pop steam vents! Bubbles flies overhead and lets off an ear piercing scream that causes Buttercup to wince! She flaps her wings as flames engulf Bubbles and she flies back, but not without pulling the machine out of her grasp!

Barasia opens her arms to reveal large cannons that she uses to fire into Buttercup's heart! As the battle persists, Barasia notices that Buttercup is not regenerating.

Out of ammo, she tries a frontal assault and is captured, but is batted out of her hands by Bubbles! "Thanks, Bubbles!" She says as she flies away to find another vantage point. The machine once again fires at Buttercup, and she once again holds it off, but this time Bubbles is on the offensive!

She begins to charge a blue ray, but a tentacle explodes out of Buttercup's side and grasps Bubbles one remaining arm! "Argh!" She exclaims as she attempts to break free, but without and leverage from what would be her remaining arm, she merely flails around!

"RAH!" She continuously roars at Buttercup, to no real avail as she begins to crush the war machine!

"I FOUGHT BACK MALIGNANCY, WHAT HOPE DOES YOUR LITTLE TOY HAVE?!" Buttercup's echoing demonic voice bellows out, shaking even The Hangar!

Off the side of the battle, a red light is seen sneaking into a hatch...

Now inside The Hangar, Blossom flies through maze-like corridors to find a large blast door. Knowing Dexter is on the other side; she slowly begins to pry it open.

She walks in and views the man himself, standing over a beeping console.

"I really had hoped you would have seen things my way, Blossom." - "Yeah well, we both find out things about each other we never knew about when the cards are laid out."

He rises from the console and views Blossom. He views his Chronometal, and Hers, and begins to laugh a small bit. "What's so funny?" Blossom asks.

He shakes his head. "Look at all of this..." He says as he looks out the window. "Is this what either of us wanted?" - "No... I just want a world where we can all live in peace... I never thought that would mean fighting you..." - "It didn't have to be... a world of peace awaits the day after tonight!"

Blossom retains a battle ready position. "Once I break your Chronometal and stick you in a cell, we will indeed know a peaceful tomorrow." - "HOW?! How can you say that? Model M will become unstoppable tomorrow!"

She shakes her head. "This will not be the way to bring peace to the world! I will stop you here and now!"

Dexter looks down, disappointed as his hands clench. "Brainwashed by your sister I see... very well. But I warn you, I do not intend to fail this night!" He yells as he slams a red button which causes the cannon to begin spinning up!

"Let's end this excuse of a debate!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _While not the most action packed (Tangent A probably has that title) Tangent C certainly has its own kind of buildup. The heroes, in Tangent C, are very humble, and constantly realize they need help. Convincing the world that tried to kill them to instead help them was no, and still is no easy task. But, much like Tangent B, common enemies drive people together more than any solid friendship ever can. After this will be epilogues._

 _After the Epilogues, there were 2 things that The Panic did sort of like the Original Story, and that was that it had a sub chapter, in the form of a sub story, a kind of alternate Tangent. A kind of hypothetical Tangent D that was never made fully. (Mostly because the concept behind Tangent D was passive neutrality and writing 2 chapters of people standing around wouldn't accomplish anything) Alternatively, there was an ENTIRE short story called: The Barasian War, that I wrote and published at the exact same time as The Chronometal Panic. You might have noticed the word "messiah" passed around lightly in The Panic, well, The Barasian War covers it._


	10. Epilogue A: Severing the Chains of Fate

The Chronometal Panic  
Tangent A: Dexter's Vision  
Epilogue: Severing the Chains of Fate

Dexter looks through the glass panels that make up most of the control room of The Hangar. He sees Blossom... Buttercup... Him... Barasia... all following him on his perhaps mad quest to exterminate Humanity for the greater good of Earth, and perhaps that of the entire Universe.

In his solitude as he begins to spin up the Environment altering cannon, he talks to himself.

"Well, this is what this all adds up to I guess... ha." He spits monotonously.

"From the beginning... almost three years ago... my little slice of heaven crashed down on me again. And from what? Some guy named Michael, and his 'ideal world.' Well, there's no telling how it could have been if we didn't stop him. His 'pet' Model M is on the loose and this time it's going to kill everything..."

He sees the war machine closing in with Bubbles in toe. She seems so sure that Dexter is wrong. Dexter has no way of knowing whether or not he is wrong or right, but he knows that only one path is available to him now.

"For the sake of tomorrow..." He mutters to himself.

The War Machine, as well as Bubbles stop short of the Blockade.

"Bubbles..." Blossom slips out, almost in tears.

"Stop!" Bubbles yells out! "You can't tell me what to do anymore! I won't let you do this!" She yells as her entire being glows a blue coloration!

"Is there no way we can convince you to stop?" Barasia asks.

"'Convince me to stop?' Is that all this is to you? A freaking business arrangement?! As if there is anything in this world or any other that would convince me to let you kill the entire planet! Do you WANT Ruby to suffer?!"

"Of course not... but, she is going to be killed anyway..." - "SO GET DOWN THERE AND PROTECT HER!" Bubbles screams out!

"It's not that simple! There's no-where on Earth that is safe for her! I may survive the attacks, but she is just a little girl! There is no running from that!" - "So to stop her from being killed you are going to kill her?! Do you have ANY idea how insane that is?!"

"I will stop her from being enslaved, tortured and murdered by giving her a peaceful, painless and instant end..." Bubbles laughs and spits to her side, having it instantly crystallize in space and fly off at speeds untraceable. She raises her arm and goes into a battle formation.

"I will save the world from you all... I will save the world from Model M..."

"That; is impossible." A manly voice is heard behind Buttercup, who smirks at the words and lets Him talk.

"There may have been a time to stop the Model M invasion through other means, but that was a long time ago... now the one way to save this world is in front of you, Bubbles..." Bubbles snarls-

"Even you, a being of ultimate power comes before me and tells me I can't save the world... well here's what I think of that!" She says as she lifts her middle finger to the entire group before continuing; "I'm so sick of you guys; I will take you down for your own good!" Bubbles yells as she takes off along side the War Machine!

The three girls split into a tri-formed formation and flank both of them at the sides! Blossom and her Model B hold off the War Machine along-side Barasia, as Buttercup engages Bubbles! At first, Buttercup keeps un-amused; but before long she notices that Bubbles is keeping up with her attacks perfectly!

The War Machine bats Barasia away as it opens fire on Blossom, forcing her to defend with all her limbs! Before long the attack stops and it punches her away at unbelievable speeds! Barasia attempts to attack the machine at whatever conceivable weak-spots it may have, with very little results.

"How did you get so strong...?!" Buttercup asks as she fails to land even a single good hit. "It's been in front of you the entire time, Buttercup!" - "What has been...?" She asks, still trying to land any real blow.

"My power... my untapped potential, an amount of energy not even I knew I could control... until now... my sisters, my best friend... even the Professor has turned their back on me... the rage, the sadness I feel... it gives me a purpose. I AM THE HERO THE WORLD NEEDS!" She yells as she punches Buttercup hard enough to cause her to cough blood!

The War Machine lands a heavy attack on Barasia, sending her flying into the canon, sending it lazing in the wrong direction! The ramifications just as apparent as the horrified look on Barasia's face as she realizes what just happened.

"DAMN!" Dexter yells to himself as she tries to send the cannon back into the correct position! "It was knocked out of the sweet spot! Damn... DAMN!" He slams the controls as they refuse to respond.

"Let me help!" A voice is heard behind Dexter. He the turns around and smiles. "Always a pleasure, Professor!"

They work at different consoles, one for cannon control and the other for booster navigation. The heavy hit is still causing the space station to laze out of its position, but on such a large scale, even an inch could mean the difference between a perfect chemical deployment and a complete failure!

"We can't regain attitude without expending all our energy to stop the movement!" –- "Then we have to compensate for it!" Dexter yells out.

"Compensate? But we will only have such a small window to aim for... if we miss, there is no second shot!" –- "If we expend our energy to stop our movement, we may not have high enough power to deploy the chemical to the right area! We have to try!" Utonium nods and returns to Booster control.

"Tracking trajectory and scanning for the perfect window... this is going to be close..."

The battle continues as Barasia and Blossom begin to feel weak.

"D... Damn..." Barasia slips out as she lands several ineffectual attacks against the machine. Blossom uses her B-Saber and slices into rivets, but the machine is so large she can't do any real damage! They are both smacked away as the machine draws closer to The Hangar!

Bubbles kicks Buttercup out of the hundreds of different times, before she too begins to show exhaustion... but Buttercup is incapable of feeling such a thing with regenerative energy and immortality.

"Give up, Bubbles!" - "N-Never! I will save this world!" - "Stop saying that, it's impossible! GIVE UP!" Bubbles pants and huffs through her clenched teeth. "GIVE- UP!" She yells as she charges for Bubbles!

"HYAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Bubbles roars as she fires a giant laser from her hand toward Buttercup, incinerating her and blinding all who look at it directly! The laser grazes The Hangar and causes one of the floors to depressurize, sending it further out of orbit!

Floating in space, Bubbles merely views the charred Buttercup.

"B... Buttercup...?" She timidly asks as her mighty aura begins to wane. But before her eyes she begins to snap back into place and her skin reforms to its original position... a truly disgusting display, only serving to enrage Bubbles further!

She grabs Buttercup by the head and yells at her body! "COME OUT AND FIGHT ME YOURSELF, HIM!" As she yells that, Buttercup regenerates fully and looks her in the eyes no longer sure she is a match for her... she eyes Bubbles, who is obviously her superior. She has a mixture of fear, sadness and pride shown on her face.

Her clothes fade from brown to green and the man himself floats in front of Bubbles. His arms are crossed and his face is twisted, obviously agitated. He looks down upon Bubbles.

"Such an arrogant display, Bubbles... challenging me. Have you forgotten who it was who saved you in Townsville those two or so years ago? Who saved your sister, Blossom and Buttercup multiple times?" Bubbles' face scrunches-

"Who seeks to destroy the entire world?" He merely laughs and covers his face in the gesture! "Don't you see, Bubbles? From the beginning of these wars, it has ALL lead up to this! One single line along time's torrential river, leading to this one moment!"

"Time is a tricky thing, who can say this is even real...?! That THIS is the one true path?" Bubbles spits out, almost philosophical.

Him raises an eyebrow...

"Almost... Got it..." Utonium grunts as the cannon reaches peak power, but auxiliary energy is nearing 0% fast! He views the panel as the aiming subroutines constantly try to lock on, but always slip out at the last second before Utonium finally notices a pattern! The level that depressurized affected the orbit on a Y axis, while the hit affected their X! Compensating for the hits, he gets the closest thing to a stable lock that he is ever going to get!

"Dexter, this is it! It's going to be like getting a home-run with a stick hitting a golf ball through three donuts from a mile away, but this is the best we are going to get! We have to fire, now!"

Dexter aims, but the battle outside is directly in front of them! Auxiliary power is at 1% and dropping before he gets a semi-clear window!

"HERE GOES EVERYTHING!"

The Hangar unleashes a soft pink laser that pierces the battle-field; everyone's eyes are on it!

"NO!" Bubbles yells out as she fires to intercept it, only to be backhanded by Him! "You are going no-where!"

The War Machine also lunges for the light, under constant resistance from Blossom and Barasia, but also this time Buttercup! They attack the engines, but they are so big they can't do any real damage! That is, before they hear someone behind them!

"Sorry I'm late!" Dexter yells as he fires a giant ball of energy for the War Machine! It slows down, but turns around for a small moment to bash all of them away, but doing no real damage.

The light traveling very slowly, due to actually being a canister of some sort. A modified nuclear missile specially designed to change atmospheric settings! In this certain shot, it is carrying the concentrated chemical! If it detonates above the Amazon Jungle will cause a circulation throughout the entire planet, causing rapid spreading if it reaches...

The war machine aims its right arm as it opens up into some kind of cannon!

"That is the secret weapon! It only has one shot, but it can take that canister out easily! We have to stop that attack!" Dexter yells as he dashes in front of the machine to try to bash his way into the cockpit, with no success!

Bubbles constantly tries to stop them, but she cannot break out of Him's blockade! "Dammit, let me GO!" - "I can't do that, Bubbles." - "Yes you can! You helped us all the time! Help me!" - "Sorry, but I only helped Buttercup. Helping you along with her was just a bonus." He says flatly, continuously batting her away, but not doing any real damage.

"I don't believe that! What about in Townsville?! You saved us both and you served no-one but yourself!" - "That was a long time ago... things change..." - "WRONG! This is the same thing it's always been! Saving the world from Model M!" - "Buttercup never wanted me to help her save the world; she wanted me to save her sisters... you and Blossom. A world where you can all live in safety from Model M!"

Bubbles chokes up with rage and tears before she thinks of something. She breaks into an unsettling smile. "What is it, girl?" He asks before she starts to choke herself!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He yells as he tries to loosen her grip, but she only squeezes tighter, forcing herself to cough up blood! "STOP THIS!" - "Ern...ly... eef, yew lhet... mee gohhh...!" She says as she unflinchingly inflicts serious harm upon herself! Her fingers are imbedded into her very neck, to force them away would kill her!

"Model M may win if you stop them..." - "I... musht... shtawp dem from... doing... dish...!" She huffs as she continues to choke herself, blood coursing over her entire being!

The machine aims its attacks, but is constantly interrupted by the gnats buzzing around. The heroes are stunned at just how ineffective they are at combating this menace!

As if things couldn't get worse, a bloody visage of horror bellows over the machine! BUBBLES! Her face, neck and body so soaked with blood and eyes so filled with rage it is impossible to know what she is thinking. But they can take an educated guess-

"DIE!" She roars as she fires a giant beam from her hand, completely engulfing Barasia! The others around her had barely enough time to react or be caught in it themselves!

"B-Bubbles, you killed-" - "An enemy of humanity..." She sneers with anger dripping from her fangs. "You're next...!" She yells as she charges for Blossom, knocking her far away from the Machine and she begins to charge after her before an interrupting voice is heard from behind her.

"ENOUGH!" Dexter bellows as his D-Saber blasts her other arm off! "HYAAAAAHHHHAHAHAAA!" She lets off a blood curdling scream as her divine blue aura instantly fade and blood crystallizes in space as crimson snowflakes. As she screams Dexter grabs her by the bleeding throat and looks her in the eyes.

"Is enough..." He finishes as he impales her with his sword. He retracts the sword and pushes her dying body into the spatial vacuum. Buttercup looks upon his actions in shock and disgust. "B... Bub... Bubbles...? B-Bubbles? BUBBLES!" She stammers and screams as she flies to her body!

Dexter merely gives her interjection a passing glance before chasing the War machine down once again.

"BUBBLES SPEAK TO ME!" She yells at her unfocused eyes as she struggles to even keep them open. She coughs red snow as she tries to respond, but her body is too far damaged. No words can come out; only blood. "H-HIM! SAVE HER!" - "Alri-" - "No..." Bubbles spits up.

"Bubbles...?" - "Him... don't..." She lets out simply as her eyes close and her pulse wanes. "DO IT HIM!" - "She has denied it..." - "I COMMAND YOU TO FUCKING DO IT!" - "I CANNOT!" He yells and imposes over her, but she doesn't startle or falter.

"I cannot embody another being if they do not will it! She has denied my intervention... she is gone, Buttercup..." - "FUCK THAT! FUCK YOU!" She yells as she punches Him away and embraces her dying corpse. "BUBBLES! BUUUUBBBBLLLLEEEESSSS!"

Dexter finally catches up with the machine- the canister is mere seconds away from deploying! He tries his best to attack the weapon, but his D-Saber just isn't strong enough. Blossom shows up, having chosen to chase the machine rather than check her sister's fate.

They don't speak to each other, but they both focus their energy on the weapon. They keep the machine occupied long enough for something to appear above it.

"RAAAHHHHGGGG!" Buttercup, in her now demonic form yells as she digs her gruesome hands into the cockpit and rips the Pilot out! She tears him in half and the machine finally stops in its tracks. She slams it into the atmosphere of the planet and it begins to burn up.

"Great going Buttercup!" Blossom lets out, happily! There is no response from Buttercup however... "Buttercup?" Buttercup turns to Dexter- still in her demonic form. She seems to have rage and regret in her eyes.

"DEXTER..." She says loudly. "AFTER THIS IS OVER... YOU WILL NOT RETURN TO THE PLANET TO DIE TO YOUR OWN CHEMICAL... NO... I WILL BE THE ONE TO KILL YOU WHEN THIS IS OVER..." - "B-Buttercup, what are you-" Blossom tries to ask before she is cut off by Dexter. "I understand..." He says plainly causing Blossom to sputter.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" As she asks that a bright light engulfs the open space! Dexter and Blossom can barely look at it, but Buttercup is more than capable without even squinting. The missile has detonated...!

They have won...!

A voice reaches their Chronometals. "Great job everyone!" It is the professor! "Y-Yeah..." Blossom says, before the mood sours again. "Look... I know that what we did seems evil... but it had to be done." - "Yeah, Professor... I know..." A short pause engulfs the space.

"What happened to everyone? Is everyone alright? I can't see you from the station..." - "Dexter, Buttercup and I are all fine." - "That's good..."

Another pause permeates the area as Buttercup and Dexter stare at each other. Her large demonic wings splayed out and his saber still drawn but they aren't attacking each other yet.

"What about... Bubbles?" Blossom looks to her left and right, but doesn't see her anywhere. "I... don't know, Professor." - "Did she run away?" They are both cut off by Dexter.

"No. She's dead." Blossom gasps! Buttercup and Dexter still eye each other. "D... Dead...?" Utonium asks timidly over the intercom device. "Yes... she killed Barasia... and I killed her." He says before he rips the intercom device from his Chronometal and throws it to the Earth. Blossom seems speechless, as she frantically looks around.

"We aren't done yet... there is still one thing that needs to be done." Dexter says as he points to The Hangar. "We need to crash it into the South Pole and take out the Mother Model M. It has been weakened with the Chemical's distribution, and we should be able to easily take it out." After he says that he flies to the landing bay and enters The Hangar, leaving Blossom and Buttercup.

"Dead?" Blossom asks. "YES..." Buttercup somberly hisses. She then begins to fly away. "Where... are you g-going...?" Blossom asks, choking up.

"I... I see... I just... I-" - "You don't have to forgive me. This entire endeavor was to save Earth..." He looks out the window to the Planet. The chemical is spreading quickly, killing more and more humans by the second. Within the hour it is likely that they will all be dead and they will have never seen it coming.

"I knew she would resist us, but I didn't know she would resist us to her grave. She was a hero, I was the villain, yet here we are." - "Dexter...?!" - "There is one last thing we have to do. I am setting this base to crash into the South Pole Model M. I have one question for you professor." As he punches in the last command, he turns around.

"Do you want to be on this station when it happens?"

*On Earth...*

In the mountains, outside Megaville, Buttercup in her demonic form places Bubbles in a tomb. A tomb labeled 'Here lay the heroes of the Chronometal Wars.'

"Bubbles..." Blossom whimpers to herself. Buttercup closes the tomb and sighs.

They leave the tomb and look into the sky. They see what looks like a meteor crashing down, but upon closer inspection, it is The Hangar! "I guess this is it..." Blossom says.

"YEAH. BUT, WAS IT WORTH IT...?" Buttercup growls sadly. Blossom shakes her head. "I don't know... but, the world is finally saved... right?" Buttercup begins to fly back upward into space.

"W-wait-" - "DON'T FOLLOW ME BLOSSOM... I'LL BE BACK..." She bolts off leaving Blossom behind. "Dexter..." She says to herself in hushed tones.

*Quickly, in space...*

Dexter has his saber drawn and stares down Buttercup. "I guess this is it..." He says, getting no response. He takes an aggressive stance as he stares her down.

"I'm sorry, Buttercup." - "I DON'T CARE!" She roars as she charges for him! He attempts to parry, but she grabs into his saber and shatters it with one snap. The battle seems horribly one sided.

She bats him away, but he does not fly away, instead he sticks to her hand and he launches himself onto her back! His gauntlets open up to their secondary weapons and he strikes her in the head with the frost-turbine, freezing her!

He jumps away, but she breaks out of the ice faster than he expected and she grabs onto him! She attempts to snap him in half with no mercy, but he flares his armor and fires out of her grasp! She charges him down, but he activates his power-piston and sends her careening backwards!

While she is flying away Dexter catches her by the tail and rebounds her back, where he power-pistons her in the face! The pain is short lived before her rage returns and Dexter is once again embraced. "This is totally unfair..." He thinks to himself.

He manages to wriggle one of his arms free and he arms his D-Pistol and shoots her in the eye- causing excruciating pain! As Dexter once again barely makes it out in one piece he notices his armor is at less than 20%. "Well I guess this is it..." He thinks to himself again.

As Buttercup regains her sight, she sees Dexter just floating there. "WHY AREN'T YOU ATTACKING?!" He says nothing and does nothing, his right hand behind his back. "WHATEVER, JUST DIE ALREADY!" She bellows as she careens for him, her demonic wings tucked in and her demon tail snaking its way behind her.

As she approaches to land a terrible blow, Dexter lets out a battle-cry of his own, showing his right hand! "DRAGON FIST!" He yells as his gauntlet fires forward of its own power at over the speed of light! It lasts for less than a second... then they are both left with what has happened.

He has punched through her core, a look of terrible pain crossing her face. "DAMN... YOU...!" She whimpers as she backs away, Dexter almost looking sorry. Her demonic form wanes, and she is left with a gaping hole in her chest.

Him leaves her body as well, but not as an observer, an attacker, nor does he seem all powerful or omnipotent.

He is also in terrible pain, panting and wheezing.

"That... That hit was extraordinary...!" Him coughs out. He begins to regain his posture, but Buttercup's vision begins to fade and she coughs up blood. "Buttercup...!" Him exclaims. Dexter looks to Him and asks: "Why don't you just regenerate her?" - "Because the damage you did knocked my energy out, I will be spent for at least an hour... *cough*"

Her eyes close, with a bloody scowl across her face. "Dexter..." Him says under his breath, and he makes a most uncharacteristic demand. "Save her..." He says as he fades into a red mist. Likely returning to the Ark in which his power is still kept.

Dexter floats to Buttercup and holds her in his arms. He can feel her pulse waning.

"Well... I guess it's up to me, again." He says as he taps his counter. "5%... enough for two round trips. Better make it count."

*Hours pass and Blossom Looks into the sunset- worried.*

"Where are they? I haven't felt either of them in so long..." She says to herself. "And... Bubbles... and the professor... everyone..." She begins to breath quickly and shallowly, showing signs of fear and anxiety.

"Am... Am I all alone? Am I alone? Is the world empty...?!" She huffs to herself as something spooks her! She looks over and sees that it is a Deer.

She's not sure why, but the Deer seems to calm her down. She looks around. She sees insects building a nest... she sees and hears birds flying and singing. The sunset reaches the mountains in the distance and it casts a beautiful auburn sheen.

"Even... even if I am alone... this is the world I... we fought for." She says to herself as she notices something in the distance. A smoke plume... coming from Megaville elementary. "DEXTER?!" She flies over, wasting no time.

She walks through the lab doors, noticing the lights are very dim. "Hello? Dexter? Where are you!?" She yells, noticing it is unusually loud in here. She thinks to herself why Dexter would even be on Earth... won't the chemical kill him if his Chronometal loses power? Maybe it's not Dexter? So many thoughts.

She sees something, and almost dismisses it until a stray thought possesses her to stay. It is a large tube, with thick bluish green liquid in it. She views a monitor by it. It all seems very familiar to her... before she remembers.

This is where she woke up! She looks as hard as she can into the pod, and can barely make out a being inside. It looks female. As she observes it, she notices another pod behind her. She walks to it and the same is apparent. A female is inside, but she cannot make out details, before she notices something ghastly!

"DEXTER!" She yells as she sees him lying on the ground! She turns him over, and her expression almost completely turns around.

He is dead... but he is smiling. His mask is open as well, not circulating the air if he were alive. "Dexter..." She whimpers as she embraces his lifeless body, before she hears something behind her. A beeping noise, a very faint one she hadn't heard until now. A monitor has the words "To Blossom" splayed across it.

She gently lets his body down and approaches it. She accesses the file.

"Bloss...om... *cough* if you are reading this... and I hope you are, I want you to know that... *cough* your sisters are safe... *hack* I, however... am going... The Chronometal is failing, its power is so low... *cough* that it's letting a little bit of the chemical in... I'm not dying fast... I'm dying... slow... ha, I guess I deserve it... and besides, it is giving... me enough time to save... your *inhale* sis...ters... If you are hearing this, I want... to say I'm sorry... I love you... and thank you for standing... by my... side..."

The recording doesn't turn off, but continues as she hears him walking away from the recording device and coughing all the way. She hears footsteps and then a jet of air. "Fresh... Air...!" Dexter yells... Soon after, a giant thumping noise is heard, and the rest of the recording is empty noise.

Blossom clenches her fists, though she is not sure why. She turns around and walks to Dexter. She picks him up and begins to fly away.

*Several minutes later, Blossom is seen leaving the grave of the Chronometal Wars, Dexter's body now within.* She inhales a deep breath of fresh, chemical laden air that is not fatal to her in the slightest. She lets out a sigh, as night animals begin their usual routine as if nothing has changed. She can feel someone behind her, but she knows who it is and merely smiles.

"I guess it's just us now, eh?" - "Not true. Once Bubbles and Buttercup awaken you will have your sisters to share this new, fertile world to share." - "Ha... yeah..." She takes another reassuring deep breath.

"I don't know... I think... I think everything is going to be okay..."

And with that, this chapter closes. Dexter has died for what he believed in and he has given those he cut down a chance at a new life in this new world. Bubbles and Buttercup will awaken, not nearly as long as it would have taken Blossom to awaken, but it will still be a few years.

Blossom has the entire world to herself, as Him remains contented in his underworld castle. As the world came to its end he ran a few errands. Yet he is still baffled about the area Briarus had locked off from the rest of them.

"I don't know Barthandelus... maybe Blossom is right? Maybe everything will be okay?" He says, sitting on his throne. To his back, the enormous crystal, a faint single winged being present within. "Perhaps, Him. The next generation will be free of Model M... even the Lunar Model M has retreated, knowing there is nothing this planet has to offer. Perhaps the future is secure... for now."

Him closes his eyes and chuckles.

"Good work, kids. You saved the entire world. Now what? Now I watch... don't throw this blessing away!"

* * *

 **AFTERMATH**

There is a slight drizzle in the air. A lone girl in the middle of an expansive forest cups her hand in the air, catching the rainwater. She drinks it down and then ends it with a satisfied sigh.

She wears old clothing, ratty and tattered, almost unwearable, intolerable to wear. Yet wear it she does, she has chosen to wear nothing else for several years.

She has spent such a long time alone, but she has kept herself busy. To her own surprise, this area overgrew in such a small amount of time. She keeps it tilled and pristine, regardless of how the rest of the world looks.

She sits atop the building with a blank expression on her face. The weeds are tilled, the sprouts are moved... she's not hungry or thirsty. Everything for the day seems more or less done, so she finds herself once again with nothing to do.

"I could use a hobby..." She says to herself. She jumps from the top of the building to start her rounds over again. As she falls the large banner labeled 'Megaville Elementary School' passes by her vision. She walks in, but regardless of how thorough she was in her 'gardening' she couldn't help but let a few plants break through the walls.

The desks lay either on their sides or rooted in place, the wooden tops rotten and covered in bugs. She remembers what it looked like when she came in years ago. There were bodies, everywhere... but not in a way that would entail slaughter or cruelty... if anything they looked slumped over their desks asleep.

She single handedly buried everyone in Megaville in a single day, a truly biblical act if she does say so herself.

As she walks down the empty halls, a deer scampers out of one of the rooms and runs down to the entrance. She enters the library and heads through the rotten bookcase to a hollow in the walls.

The stairs echo endlessly as she walks down... and before her eyes the once closed off lab of Dexter's past is little more than a great atrium! Birds and wildlife fly and crawl around as the entire lab has been broken into by nature, well, almost the entire lab. The section holding her sisters are completely weed free... give or take.

She begins her rounds again before she notices something... both of the pods are open! She darts her eyes across the room to view anyone who might be in here, to no avail.

"Hello?" She asks, her voice echoing down the halls, but quickly drowned out by birds and other wildlife. Something catches her eye and she looks up. Two silhouettes stand over a gaping maw in the roof of the lab. One of them relents their standing posture and sits down, looking down but not seeing Blossom.

... ... ...

"I never had a choice in the matter... I told Him not to revive me, but Dexter did... as if it were a cruel joke to bring me back in a world I failed to defend." She continues to look down, somber.

"To make matters worse, the only way to escape from this hollow shell of a world would be to die again, but who's to say I'm even alive...?!" She seethes as she looks at her own arms and body. "THIS ISN'T ME!" – "Calm down... look here." The other girl says as she points to something on the other girl's shoulder.

"What the...? A... bunch of buttons?" – "There is a pattern here, it's very long... but it looks like an Off Switch of sorts." – "Isn't that convenient... Dexter put in a damn off switch..." She sighs.

They merely sit and stand around, not really doing much else but soaking up the scenery. "Beautiful... isn't it?" The green one lets out. The blue one raises her head to look at the forests around them. "How long have we been out? A hundred years? Is Blossom even still alive?"

"Oh I'm still alive!" Blossom says as she fires out of the lab, scaring the two causing them to recoil! She lands on the ground and they all seem to merely gaze at each other. One of them finally breaks the ice soon after.

"So uh... how's it been?" Buttercup asks. "Boring as heck... these years have been taxing on the mind, but now you guys are here!" – "How long were we out?" Bubbles asks. "Three years, almost on the dot." They merely exchange small-talk for a while, before Blossom reaches out slowly and rubs Bubbles' hair.

"Y-Yes?" She lets out, confused. Blossom says nothing as she continues to feel Bubbles, making sure she is really there, making sure she is really alive. She switches to Buttercup soon after, who seems to have no real objections.

Hours pass, they talk, they laugh and they cry... time goes by. Before that is, someone breaks up the little reunion.

A red haze mists over the area and Buttercup's ears perk up. A being coalesces into focus and everyone looks upon it. Him, of course... who else could stand to wear such gaudy clothing, even in an apocalyptic future?

"So the gang's all rounded up, huh?" Buttercup merely nods and gulps, conveying uncertainty across her face and body. "What's wrong, my Buttercup?" – "Wh... why are you here, Him?" He raises an eyebrow and breaks into a small scowl.

"You know why I'm here..." – "Can't I spend a couple days... weeks with them?" He rolls his eyes and shrugs. "Why not, sure, whatever. It's not like it's lonely down here or anything. Everyone who ever was is here! It's fun! But whatever, come at your leisure, my Buttercup. Enjoy your world... I'll be waiting." He says as he fades into red mist once more, with a grin slicing his face.

Buttercup gives a sigh of relief as the other two ask what that was all about. Buttercup shrugs it off and they all drop the issue and begin to talk of other things.

The rest of their days are spent like this. Sunrise, Sunset, with no real goal in mind. They press on. It's not a bad way for the world to end... but boy it sure is boring!

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Certainly one of the more divisive endings. Not a serious amount of closure, not to mention it doesn't really leave the story open for a lot of new possibilities. A lot of small things were dropped, like with Buttercup and Him, but nothing concrete. This ending is probably, admittedly, my least favorite. The tangent itself was wicked to write, but the lukewarm ending was inevitable, if this was a goal, this was to be the ending. It's definitely not the happiest one, is it?_


	11. Epilogue B: Magnificent Dawn

The Chronometal Panic  
Tangent B: Model M's Return  
Epilogue: Magnificent Dawn

Alone in her yard, still in mid day- it seems like an odd place for Barasia to be considering such ultimatums, such important scenarios and events. Almost completely oblivious to the fact that she has company, she mutters to herself.

"I can cause a... ten year causality loop. I will live for ten years, but by the end I will... kill myself, but in doing so- save the world with the newest of Chronometals..."

"Huh?" A voice behind her chirps. Barasia twirls around, completely baffled by the fact that she was so focused on the Ark that she didn't even hear Ruby walk up to her. Even more amazing is the fact that she is already back from school. It has been 8 hours already, and the sun is already more than half across the sky.

"Oh, uh... I was just thinking out loud." Ruby frowns, causing Barasia to worry. "What is it?" - "You are going to go do hero stuff again... aren't you?" Barasia pauses and thinks for a moment, and then she kneels down to Ruby and puts her finger to her chin.

"Hey. It's going to be alright. I'll just be gone for a minute or so. I'll be fine, I promise." Ruby says nothing back. She is incredibly uncomfortable with Barasia continuing to be a 'hero.' The concept of her being killed and leaving her alone just like her mother did continue scar her to no end.

"Look, I'll even bet you I'll be back in less than a Minute. I'll bet you... this entire week's bedtime!" Ruby is nearly set aback by the bet- almost as if she has heard this already. Her eyes regain their normal composure and innocence as she speaks up.

"I know never to take that bet ever again! You always win!" - "See? Even you know I'll be back. Now, be a good girl and run along. I have something to do." - "O-Okay. See you in a minute!" - "A Minute! Got it!" Barasia happily states as she flies off.

However, after she is out of eyeshot of Ruby, her face sours and regains a serious demeanor.

"God damn it... I'm really about to do this, aren't I?" She mutters to herself as she views the Ark, deadly seriousness crossing her face.

"I've never so much as MET myself from another time-line, and here I am about to go and... Kill myself..." She shakes her head and swallows her fear.

"Now is not the time for hesitance. Now is the time to save the damn world- again!" She opens an orange rip in space and time and flies into it!

Using a device, Utonium tracks the location of the Lunar Model M. It has just now left the dark side and is now approaching Earth. The sheer size of it is baffling.

"Yeah, this is definitely the place. *ACHOO!*" Buttercup says- and sneezes. Walking around aimlessly, she lazily eyes devices. They are all frozen over, but still seemingly functional.

Dexter walks to a red button- and presses it. Within moments, lights burst on and heating vents are reactivated. The second one turns on and blasts Buttercup, she lets out a very large sigh of relief.

Shaking the ice out of her hair, she turns around and meets up with the rest of the group.

"So, this is the other cannon. Are we going to use it to shoot the Model M out of the sky?" - "That's the idea. We don't know how powerful it is, nor why it chose to avoid detection for so long. But it's coming now. We are going to destroy it, and hopefully the South Pole Model M at the same time."

Dexter taps the device a little bit with a grin on his face.

"There's a little something special about this certain cannon." He states as a device shoots out of the core. It seems to be a very large scale adapter of some kind, but the hole to put something in is so large. What could it possibly be used for?

"Professor, did you bring what I asked?" - "Yes, Dexter. Here it is." He states, rummaging through his bags and getting a hold on something. Blossom eyes the familiar technology. "Isn't that the Chronometal to Energy adapter?" - "Yes, it is." Dexter says as he puts it in the perfectly sized hole.

He puts the slot back into the core and returns to the firing console.

"So... we are going to charge our Chronometals into the cannon?" - "That's the idea... but it can only be used by one person at a time. Given that you nearly died last time- I will gladly go first." Blossom nods as she looks at the roof of the cannon.

The dome is opened up slightly to aim the protruded barrel and some snow is falling in. Blossom can barely make out something next to the mid-day moon. It must be the new Model M.

"So, when are you going to fire this thing?" - "Well, given the precarious nature of the 'fuel' it uses and the fact that it can only be used, say about two times; One for me, one for you, I will only fire it if I have a perfect shot. Nothing would be worse than a Miss."

"It's so big..." Buttercup spills out. Dexter looks up to view the moon as well. "We don't have a lot of time."

Dexter activates the cannon, and large mechanical noises are heard all around them. "I will charge the cannon. You guys have to stop it! Keep it in one place!" - "We don't even know anything about this Model M! Is it safe to just engage it like this?"

"Does it look like we have another choice?" Bubbles lets out as she begins to fly off. "I guess not." Buttercup also says, before flying off.

"Don't overdo yourself, Dexter." Blossom says with a quick nod, before she too flies off.

Confident in his own abilities, Dexter begins to charge the cannon using the set adapter to make his own energy into the fuel for the cannon. "This is it..."

Halfway to intercepting the Model M, they are met by Barasia!

"W-Wha-? Barasia?! What are you doing here?" Bubbles slips, both worried and ecstatic to see her! "I came to help you guys." - "You couldn't have picked a better time!" Blossom says, pointing to the moon.

"I know, Him told me." Barasia says as Buttercup raises her eyebrow. "Him?" As she asks that, she feels herself surge with familiar power, as her green trademarks once again transforms into brown.

As they float there, Bubbles notices something behind Barasia, something she is hiding behind her back.

"What's that?" She asks, inquisitive. Barasia shyly moves it toward her front for viewing. The group goes completely silent, with looks of awe across their faces.

"A... A..." - "A Chronometal, Yes." Barasia lets out. "Who?" Blossom lets out, asking who the Chronometal could have once been.

"No time, Bubbles, take this!" Barasia says as she throws the Chronometal to Bubbles, who catches it in one hand. "F-For me?!" As she asks that, the Chronometal- as well as her entire body are engulfed in dark light!

She does not resist, or scream. She knows what a Chronometal Transformation looks like. But after a few moments, she begins to feel strange! The transformation is very bright, regardless of the blackness that envelopes the light. The others cannot bear to look at it dead on.

After the light dies down, Bubbles is left wearing a beautiful bladed ebony Chronometal! The energy of which is staggering. It is slightly stronger than Dexter's Chronometal, seemingly the strongest of the Metals- except M of course.

She feels the back of herself, she has long Black hair.

She flexes her arms and hands, pulsing her muscles in both her arms. "This feels great...!" She says happily before she notices something.

'Arms.' 'Hands.'

"I-I...! I have by arm back!" Blossom and Buttercup look upon Bubbles' new Chronometal, and she does seem to have an additional arm! "It feels just like a regular arm but... I know it's fake." Bubbles lets out with a mixture of satisfaction and sadness.

She messes around with her right arm for a couple seconds, also viewing the glorious black accents on the armor. Barasia speaks up:

"Model B-2. The second in line." –- "B-2? Does that make mine B-1?" Blossom asks, getting a nod from Barasia. "If Bell was B-1... who is-" Blossom tries to ask as an ear splitting roar pierces the entire planet!

"Not now, later!" Barasia yells as she points to Model M, who is nearing Earth! "Right!" The three all say in unison. They begin to fly off, but Bubbles notices Barasia isn't following.

"What's the matter?" Bubbles asks and Barasia floats up to meet her closely at eye level. "I cannot follow you, not this time. I have a daughter to look after." After a short pause, Bubbles nods. "Okay... thanks for the Chronometal." Barasia looks away, almost ashamed... but nods. "You're welcome. Save the world, Bubbles..." She says as she flies off.

Blossom, in Model B-1. Bubbles, in Model B-2. Buttercup, with the divine powers of Him. They all fire at this new threat. Are they powerful enough? 'They better be.' They think to themselves, leaving no room for doubt or compromise.

They burn out of the Planet's atmosphere, and the blue sky disappears as they near the Newest of the Model Ms! It doesn't seem to have any arms, legs... wings, or even a head. It seems like an amorphous mass of Iron and Steel. Blossom puts her finger to her ear.

"Dexter, you seeing this?" - "Yeah, it seems pretty unconscious and easily traceable. I can line up a perfect shot in no time." He says through the comm. device.

As they scan the device and Dexter begins to charge the cannon, something horrifying happens! "D-Dexter! Hold off on that! Something is happening!"

The amorphous metals coalesce into various shapes and patterns, before they see what seems like a torso, with arms and a head protruding from a ghastly iron comet!

"You have all come I see..." It hums, the group surprised it wasn't a roar or screech. "Yes, we have come to destroy you!" Buttercup yells out, with new-found vigor and purpose!

"Destroy... me? Magnificence knows no weakness. I am unstoppable, perfect. The absolute epitome of the Power that is Model M!" - "Magnificence, huh? Kind of a pretentious name for just another casualty on our list!" Blossom taunts.

"I see you are all prepared... more prepared than I thought." Magnificence states as he views Bubbles. "But it is of no matter. I will crush you, and claim this pathetic planet- and all its inhabitants as my own!"

Its arms lash out at the group who dodge nimbly! They attack him in perceivable weak points, such as the head and heart; but nothing seems to work! As the battle pushes on, they notice the Comet that is Magnificence is still moving toward the Earth!

"Blossom, you guys can't let him break the atmosphere!" Dexter yells through the comm. device. "I've gotten a good reading of it! It feeds off of the residual life of all things living! Neither their death- nor their emotions! This thing will continue to exist as long as life does! If it nears Earth, it's power would at least double! You have to stop it while I charge this cannon!" - "Got it!"

"Girls! We have to push him back! We can't let him reach Earth! If we do, it's game over!" The two nod, as Bubbles uses her new-found power to charge into Magnificence's chest in an attempt to halt him!

Buttercup crosses her arms and begins to glow red! Divine flames engulf her as she emerges in her demon form! Multitudes bigger than she just recently was, she charges for the base of Magnificence's torso and begins to beat him back!

"Such Barbarity..." He lets out as he bats them away effortlessly. "HRA!" He roars as chains burst from the comet and flies at mach speeds toward the Earth! "THE HELL IS THAT?!" Buttercup roars!

On Earth, the chains crash into mountains and buildings before digging into the crust of the planet and seem to be swirling in red energy! As the chains remain, Magnificence seems to gain in size and strength!

He is absorbing the power from Earth itself! "We have to break these chains!" Blossom yells out, attempting to break them, but her strength is too little! Same for Bubbles, but Buttercup in her demon form snaps through the chains with ease!

As the chain breaks, it burns away into a dark red light, but before they begin to pat themselves on the back- more chains fire out and impale the Earth! "YOU GUYS STOP MAGNIFICENCE; I WILL STOP THE CHAINS!" Buttercup states as she flies off, splitting chain after chain!

Bubbles uses her newly acquired B Saber to slice at Magnificence as he attempts to bat her back, but her speed is also heavily accented! They succeed in holding off Magnificence, but the chains continuously gouge the planet. The repercussions unknown.

"Blossom! Come in!" - "Yeah Dexter?" - "The Model Ms on Earth have begun acting erratically! They are attacking in large numbers, but they are also turning on each other! Something is causing them to go insane!" Red mist seems to leave the south pole of Earth and float toward Magnificence!

"Dexter, this Model M up here seems to be sapping the life energies from the Model Ms! We will continue the fight, if we can win this... we can take out Mother and Magnificence in one blow!"

Blossom readies her B saber as well and joins Bubbles in her attack on the Human-Meteor-Hybrid that is Magnificence. "Annoying gnats..." It states as he expels a large amount of energy to blast them back with a red wave! Chains continuously fire out from the core of the Meteor, but most of them are being stopped by Buttercup!

They put up ample resistance, but their energy is reaching its limit, as does Magnificence. "This is insane... why am I so tired...?!" Blossom huffs to herself, panting. Magnificence also pants and huffs, but is also chuckling under his breath.

"Red... Mist..." It lets out simply. The two of them look around, noticing the mist from the South Pole has stopped going into Magnificence, and is instead swirling around them in space! It's sapping the energy of everything in the area! Before they can run away, they are already so tired that they cannot move.

"Hahaha...!" It cackles manically! It raises its hands in an attempt to smash them, but it is blocked by Buttercup- who seems completely immune to the red mist! Being blocked and Battered by Buttercup, Magnificence merely grins as more chains fire out!

"GRRR!" She growls out as she is forced to once again tend to the chains!

"Blossom... I am... so tired..." Bubbles says, barely keeping her eyes open. Blossom, more attuned to her Chronometal has slightly more power than Bubbles. She weakly floats to her and grabs her by the chest.

"What are... you...?" She tries to ask as she passes out. Blossom gives her a forceful push and sends her out of the red mist, toward the Earth! Struggling to stay conscious, she looks back at Magnificence, who is also seemingly drained. He raises his arms, and the red mist is sucked into him!

After a short moment, he seems to be back at near full power.

"Pointless..." He spits as he fires more and more chains at Earth in baffling numbers! Buttercup cannot even stop half of the chains anymore! She blasts them in half, one by one. They burst into crackling sparks, but are always replaced with newer chains!

Blossom puts her finger to her ear. "Dexter... how's the charge... coming along?" - "Almost done! Are you alright?!" He yells, worried. "I'm... fine... Tell me when it's ready!" She shakes her head, trying to psyche herself back into the battle.

Her vision ebbs and churns in an out of focus as her consciousness becomes questionable.

Magnificence swipes at her and she still has enough energy to dodge around, but Model M doesn't care. He is amused as the barely conscious husk that continues to resist him.

Chains continue to crash into the planet, giving him more and more energy. The chains break sky scrapers, level bridges, crush mountains... they are ruining the entire planet!

The life energy coursing up the chains cause storms and rains! The entire world is engulfed in a hurricane of sorts! What was once day is transformed into a violent night! Quakes begin to shake the very foundation of the planet, as not even the South Pole is safe from the tremors! The rogue Model Ms turn on each other and break apart as the storms cause flash floods to wash them away!

Panicked civilians run to bomb shelters and wherever they can go to save themselves and their families!

"Blossom! It's ready! Tell me when it's safe to fire!" Blossom thinks to herself with a barely conscious brain. She begins to fly off, but is caught by Magnificence. "I heard that... You aren't going anywhere!" He laughs to himself as he embraces Blossom to his chest.

"Now, Dexter..." - "A-Are you safe?" - "NOW DEXTER!" She yells!

A large drum shattering explosion is heard, and even the clouds and storms part as the giant cannon fires at Magnificence! Pure gold energy engulfs the entire sky as the chains burn away!

Buttercup flies up and holds Magnificence in place as it tries to coast out of the way. "END OF THE LINE!" She yells as she holds the entire comet!

"RAAAAHHHHG!" Magnificence roars in pain as it is engulfed in the pure energy of the Chronometal Cannon! Blossom, also caught in the blast is suffering! Magnificence's fingers burn away and she takes the brunt of the attack! She is blasted so harshly, that she is burned into Magnificence!

Her Chronometal fuses to the tyrant's iron as the beam begins to waver. Magnificence is left barely alive as the beam fades, but he is still alive!

With a mangled jaw and melted frontal half, he begins to cackle. "Gha gha gha! You have accomplished NOTHING!" He roars as he begins to fly toward the Earth again!

Burning through the atmosphere, but now out of the red mist, Bubbles wakes up in a free fall. "W-What the?! She asks herself as she manages to stop herself before hitting the ground. She looks up to see a melted and burnt Model M in the sky, but it is still alive- and being held by Buttercup!

She notices the residual energy from the cannon and dashes for it!

She bursts in, noticing Dexter is panting on the floor. "DEXTER!" - "No... Time... Cannon... ch-charge...!" Bubbles; afraid, nods. She reaches the cannon and freezes.

"I... don't know how..." - "Hands... box..." She views the console, there are two hand sized slots to put her 'hands' in and she does just that. "Okay, now what?"

Dexter, with barely open eyes, staggers to one leg as he activates the aiming protocols. As he punches in the last action, the cannon begins to spin up again. Bubbles feels her energy burn away, and course into the cannon!

"What happened up there?" She asks with her hands in the conduit. Dexter, barely even leaning against the console manages to blurt out- "Console went out... radio silence... I don't... know..." He passes out from sheer exhaustion.

"Blossom... Please be safe!"

Stopping the chains at the source, Buttercup begins to wrap Magnificence in his own energy sapping chains! Yet he says nothing, he only laughs. "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!" Buttercup roars, not amused. "You will see... in time!" He lets out enigmatically.

Another large explosion noise is heard and another laser is fired! This one is a stark black color instead of gold! As the laser approaches, Buttercup once again pins him in place, but this time... all he does is laugh. And Laugh. AND LAUGH!

The laser hits and this time- it hits even harder! His entire front side is blasted away while the chains flail and burn into nothing! Blossom, still melded to the front, does her best to defend herself, but it's no use! The cannon fire is too strong and her Chronometal is completely blown off! Her skin is engulfed in the dark energy!

Magnificence's energy reaches a critical low as a voice is heard from behind it!

"NOW BUTTERCUP!" Him yells, declaring she deliver the Coup de grâce! She roars as she punches into his very core, and blasts him toward the atmosphere with all her energy!

Magnificence begins to burn up in the atmosphere, and the storm caused from the loose energy begins to tear him to pieces! The darkness of space disappears as the flames of the atmosphere engulf them.

"This is it... you know..." He states quietly, addressing only one being. "Y... yeah..." Blossom says hoarsely, her throat- and pretty much everything else burned beyond recognition.

"You killed yourself to kill me... was it worth it?" - "I... had to... stop you..." She coughs, as the flames begin to engulf even where she is. The pain, excruciating... but being a super-human, she doesn't instantly die.

The flames build and build as Magnificence lets out one final question.

"Do you think the world you left behind will be safe, Blossom? I am but one of many problems..." Blossom has not the strength to respond, although she would love to.

The flames grow in intensity before she is completely blinded by fire. She closes her eyes and takes it all in.

"WHERE'S BLOSSOM, HIM?" Him remains silent. "ANSWER ME!"

"I..." He stalls. "WHAT IS IT?! WHERE?!" Him retracts his power and she fades back into her original form. She looks down toward Earth.

Magnificence burns away, and pieces of it shatter and separate from the original mass and incinerate in the atmosphere.

"Dexter..." Bubbles gasps as she disconnects herself from the cannon. "We won, Dexter... Haha... We won..." She looks up, as pieces of the cruel machine that was Model M burn away. The larger pieces crash into the surrounding area, but missing vital areas of the town. Casualties are kept to a minimum...

"But... where's Blossom...?" She asks herself as she too passes out upon the floor.

*An hour passes.*

"I still can't find Blossom..." Buttercup whimpers, nearly breaking into tears. Bubbles and Dexter as still far too exhausted to do anything, but they listen and share her worry. "I... I'm sure she is fine..." Dexter says, upon the hospital bed, out of his Chronometal. As is Bubbles.

"I'll... keep searching." Buttercup says as she is interrupted by one of the Military men.

"Report..." Buttercup says sadly. "We found... something..." She raises her head, fearing the worst.

At a nearby lake, she takes the 'thing' and nearly breaks into tears. She collapses to her knees.

"Leave me... alone..." The soldiers merely nod and walk away. "You too Him." She fades back into her Green Coloration.

She holds it in her hands, looking at it deeply.

A singed red bow. She looks at it in her hands. Tears begin to hit it. She breaks into sadness, and holds the bow to her chest and cries.

"Damn it Blossom... Why? This was all for you! Why?! WHY?!"

She squeezes the bow and roars-

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She slams her fist into the ground, breaking it all to pieces...

*Several hours pass, and everyone meets up in the Chronometal Tomb.*

A quick funeral passes and eulogy is passed, but those performing the ceremony seem to have a very large schedule. Blossom was not the only person killed by this event, nor was she even in the first hundred.

Buttercup, Bubbles, Utonium and Dexter all stand over her grave, with her bow placed over it.

Dexter looks to the ceiling. It was caved in by one of the many pieces of Magnificence falling to Earth. The urns and tombs were untouched however. The gash in the ceiling extends all the way into the horizon.

The sun is setting. It is still raining slightly, but it is dying down. Most of the people here have remained silent. The crying and mourning has ended, now they simply look into the sunset.

Model M has been destroyed... Magnificence absorbed so much energy from the South Pole that even Mother was destroyed. There is nothing left on the planet that could possibly pose a serious threat anymore...

But Blossom is gone, for good.

*As the Hours pass, the only person left standing over the grave is Dexter.*

Night has fallen, and a midnight mist flows in through the gash in the wall, as does someone else.

"Dexter?" He turns around, and looks at the person talking. "Barasia..." - "I heard what happened..." Dexter says nothing, still standing over the large internal grave.

Barasia stands there too. "I'm... so sorry..." Dexter clenches his fists and begins to tear up again. Barasia nears him in an attempt to comfort him- and he lunges at her!

He embraces her. He does not cry, but he holds on for dear life. Barasia does so too, she knows what he is feeling. For the longest time, she thought of herself as a mindless Killing machine and one of the few people she could ever call friend has died.

It was Blossom who helped summon her to this universe in the first place. It was Blossom who saved her from herself. It was Blossom who went back and forth through time to save the entire omniverse. Everyone on Earth has lost Blossom, not just them.

The fog engulfs the area, and their silhouettes seem to vanish into the night.

The panic has ended.

The Chronometal wars have ended.

The world is safe, but it came at a catastrophic price. Dexter doesn't know why Blossom chose to kill herself. Given only a few more moments he could have compensated for her location... but perhaps that would have let Magnificence live. Without the time given to have actually made the decision, it is impossible to foresee what would have happened...

So many variables, but there are a few things that Dexter knows now.

He knows he is one of the few people left on Earth to protect it. Even the People who he swore to kill will look upon him as a hero. The fallen hero. The 'only' hero. He looks upon the dark horizon. The world has turned its back on him, and he turned his back on it... but what is left is all that is left. They need each other.

Neither side is too ecstatic about this, but with the quick appearance of Magnificence, and the price at which everyone had to pay in order for him to be destroyed... the world cannot afford to not have such a hero. The hero the world needs...

* * *

 **AFTERMATH**

Several weeks have passed, everyone close to Blossom still come to this grave every day, some to pay a passing respect... others make it much more personal.

Buttercup merely stands outside of the tomb most of her visits. She comes for Blossom, but never seems to make it inside. She is still brown colored, but she hasn't talked to Him since the day Blossom died... she always has a far away look in her eyes that even perplexes Dexter. She seems to have some demons that need to be conquered...

Life moves on for the rest of the world. The rebuilding from the Panic and the battle with Magnificence will take a long time, but the entire world is united in this endeavor. Having all faced tragedy at the same time, the entire world's entire political view has shifted to a global nationality almost overnight.

A truly humbling event has transpired, after all. The world and the people within it are fragile and irreplaceable. Bubbles has forced her way into the American Government to ask why they sanctioned such an attack on her family, herself included. Her armless figure is powerful to behold, but even louder than words is the fact that she continues to fight for Humanity, regardless of what has happened to her and her family.

Having paid his respects, Dexter leaves out of the grave and walks down the mountain path... along the way he encounters Barasia sitting on a nearby bench. Before he can let off so much as a 'hi' she begins to talk.

"I've been thinking, Dexter... now that this whole mess is over, have you thought of getting out of this? Out of being a hero?" Dexter, having pondered this question himself multiple times sits on the bench besides Barasia and sighs.

"Yes, I have. You have too?" She nods and opens the locket around her neck. It is made of gold and holds a picture inside. It is of her and Ruby, smiling and waving to the camera. "Is... is that?" – "It's Ruby, yes. She is the little girl I met a long time ago right as the first war started. She's the one you helped me adopt, remember?"

Dexter raises an eyebrow and straightens out his back to show his interest. "I... never actually saw her." – "It's okay... After all all of this was the least I could do for Ruby. The wars have taken so much from all of us; I couldn't bear her being all alone because of this." He looks forward, to the horizon of Megaville. Skyscrapers and clouds... scenic.

While he's looking, he sees someone walking up the trail to the grave. It looks like a young girl. "Here she is herself." Barasia says. The girl is holding a bunch of flowers in her hand and looks at Dexter and Barasia.

"Hi, Mom... who's your friend?" – "Ruby, this is Dexter. He was Blossom's..." She stops and looks over to Dexter, who seems to have a pained expression. Before she can continue, Dexter rises off of the bench. "Nice to meet you, Ruby... but I have to go." He says firmly as he begins to walk away.

Barasia rises from the bench and instructs Ruby of where to put the flowers. She nods and walks up the path as Barasia chases Dexter down. "Dexter, wait!" She protests before he completely turns around, still with a pained expression on his face.

"I'm Blossom's what?! Her Boyfriend? Her lover? Her KILLER? These wars took her away from me, you and everyone else! D-Damn it!" He sputters as he diverts his eyes and continues.

"We were talking about starting a family, you know that?" Barasia looks away, shocked and sorrowful. "But we never had the ability to do it... these fucking wars would never end...! Now look... I'm Blossom's what? I'm Blossom's nothing... She's gone...!" He states as he begins to walk away again.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Dexter..." Barasia says. He moves his head back to view her, but not his entire body as he still fully intends on walking away after this. She continues:

"You can still have a family..." – "With whom?" – "Ruby and I..." – "Are you asking me to-" – "It's only logical, Dexter... Ruby needs a father figure. You are the best I can think of." Dexter completely turns around with a shocked look across his entire body and face.

"I... uh...?" He stammers as Ruby walks down the path. "I'm done, Mom!" – "Okay, Ruby." She states as she grabs her hand. "Let's go home..." She looks over to Dexter as she walks away. "Think about it, Dexter." She states as she passes Dexter, leaving him to himself.

"F... Father...? Barasia...?" He clenches his fist and thinks deeply. "Barasia..."

(===)

As sun begins to set, Buttercup stands in the middle of a large clearing in the woods, a place she discovered recently to think. She sits on a stump, thinking long and hard to herself. Out of the blue she says- "Him. Come."

On queue, he rises from red mist in front of her. He says nothing and neither of them make eye contact.

"She's dead..." – "I know..." The breeze picks up and pine winds blow, but it doesn't make Buttercup feel better... not at all.

"The deal's off..." – "I know..." – "Why didn't you tell me she was in the line of the blast?" – "She made the choice herself. She wanted Dexter to fire; she wanted you to hold Magnificence in place. She didn't want to die... but she didn't want anyone else to get hurt... it was not my place to go against her wishes, Buttercup." Buttercup stays silent and buries her face into her hands as the breezes dies down.

"I... I see. I guess it's over between us, huh?" – "It doesn't have to be... there is... something you can still do for me." – "Still want my soul? Sorry, but it's not for sale... not this time." He raises his head to view her eyes and wears a serious expression, as if asking her for help.

"Buttercup, I... need your help... I NEED it. Everyone needs it." – "What are you-" – "I will explain soon enough... not here, not now... but I need you..." He says enigmatically before disappearing into the ground.

"Him? Him! HIM!" She yells over and over, trying to get him to come back. "What the hell was he talking about?!"

Days pass. Weeks pass. The world enjoys its fleeting peace like after every other major catastrophe before this one. But as is always foretold... there is always trouble in paradise. But this time... they have a little bit of breathing room... a couple years to regain their bearings...

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _A general theme you'll realize once you finish all the epilogues of the Chronometal Storylines, there are rarely ever any actual happy endings. In the panic specifically, there will never be an ending where everyone is happy, healthy, and alive. These wars are hell, and the true ending (You will find out which one it is eventually) is no exception. Catastrophe is the only certainty, and the greatest strength is the ability to move on._


	12. Epilogue C: Atonement for the Dark

The Chronometal Panic  
Tangent C: The Hero...  
Epilogue: Atonement for the Dark

The battle blares outside, even through the vacuum of space they can hear it, even through solid titanium they can hear it. The echoes of the end.

The cannon is charging to full power in a matter of minutes and within the control chamber are two individuals.

Blossom and Dexter...

Without so much as a word of objection, Blossom fires toward the cannon control, only to be intercepted by Dexter who draws his saber and nearly slices her! Recovering from the dodge she draws her own and strikes back only to be locked with his blade!

They slice and cut at each other, but they continuously parry and dodge. Precious time is being wasted and Dexter knows all he has to do to win is play a good defense. Almost breaking into a smirk, Dexter notices Blossom trying to fire over him to get to the control panel!

He quickly jabs her in mid air with the hilt of the blade and bats her away onto the floor of the station. She tries to rise, but Dexter moves the blade to her chin and looks her in the eyes...

In doing so, puts him off guard from her eye beams! Dexter is blown back a short distance, giving her the perfect opportunity to rush for the console! As she reaches it she isn't sure what to think. The term 'it isn't rocket science' doesn't apply here.

This is more complex than rocket science.

In her frustration and the short constrained time limit she put herself in she bashes the control panel! Pieces of it go flying in all directions!

"Is that all, Blossom? Just breaking things isn't going to stop it." Dexter taunts, with his D-Pistol drawn and pointing to her.

"It's not too late to stop this..." Blossom lets out, also drawing her B-Pistol. "That's my line." He spits. A Mexican standoff in space, this time with lasers. Truly not what most people would think of when they think "End of the World."

Blossom diverts her aim and fires toward the glass panels to depressurize the deck! Through the fissure, she flies into space to initiate direct attacks on the cannon!

Dexter chases her out of the hole as everything not bolted down; such as the debris from the console as well as Dexter's papers fly out into the vacuum.

The battle is continuing without their interruptions, Bubbles, Barasia and the machine fighting with the devil once known as Buttercup. Whether at this point Blossom considers Buttercup a victim or a culprit of these wars, she does not know herself.

She nears the canon only to be targeted by Dexter's Chronometal Power!

"WIND BURST!" He roars as the now icy wind of space completely blows her away! Dexter arms his Pistol to fire concentrated Leviathan energy to freeze her in place and fires!

However, as it hits Dexter is no longer sure Blossom is even there. The ice is completely translucent and Blossom; if she is in there at all is incredibly hard to see.

He darts his eyes around in an attempt to find her, but he can hear her instead! On the other side of the cannon He can hear explosions. "Clever..." He says under his breath as he fires to the cannon.

The war machine, now almost completely powerless, fights not to attack the cannon any longer, but instead stay alive!

"Leave him alone!" Bubbles yells as she is flicked away by Devil Buttercup. She rips the arms off the now defenseless machine and begins to scratch at the cockpit window.

"PREPARE TO DIE!" She giggles demonically as she begins to pierce the cockpit! "I SAID STOP IT!" Bubbles continuously yells, trying to get Buttercup to stop!

As she probes and breaks the cockpit, the air inside fires out causing the man inside to suffocate! "NOOO!" Bubbles roars as she musters hidden strength to strike Buttercup out of balance and Bubbles dives into the cockpit to attempt to save the man!

Gasping for breath and eyes going red, she summons a blue wind around him! Although the wind is dangerous and coarse- seeking to tear his clothing to pieces and cut his skin, it does gives him a small amount of air to breathe! She pries him out of the cockpit and fires toward the Earth!

However, she is intercepted by Buttercup. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, BUBBLES?! HE IS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO TRIED TO KILL YOU- WHO TRIED TO KILL ALL OF US! THIS MACHINE WAS DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY TO KILL US!" Not seeking to answer her question, Bubbles completely ignores Buttercup and enters the planet's atmosphere. However, surprisingly... Buttercup doesn't pursue her.

She looks back to view Barasia, who is merely in a defensive stance- not an aggressive one.

"I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU, BARASIA... BUT I CAN'T LET THIS GO ON..." - "I know, we all have our reasons... as do I... as do Bubbles and Blossom." - "WHY WON'T YOU LET US KILL THE HUMANS AND SAVE THIS WORLD...?!" - "I have a daughter to look after. Although I'm skeptical myself over whether or not humanity can survive this conflict- it's not my concern. I have a family to look after."

"FAMILY...?" Buttercup asks as she begins to fade back into her normal form. "Ruby... you remember her, right?" - "Ruby... huh? Yeah, I remember her." Buttercup says, looking toward the twinkling blue star entering the Earth's atmosphere.

"Cute little red headed girl. The one Bubbles was talking about when you joined us during the start of the Chronometal Wars." – "That's right... remember after the battle with Malignancy? We were talking about how all this happened." Buttercup laughs a small bit.

"Yeah, I remember. It's complicated." - "Very, if it wasn't for Ruby, I probably never would have learned the value of life... and in so, this could have turned out a lot worse." - "Worse, huh? How?" She says, laughing and looking at the world and the rubble of the war machine as Blossom and Dexter fight over the cannon.

"Should we go help our respective sides?" Barasia suggests. "Nah... I'm sure they can work it out." She says as a large scale explosion takes out one of the upper decks of The Hangar.

"...I've been wrong before..."

Constantly parrying and attacking each other with ferocity and speed, the two who at one time considered each other friends, or even lovers are now locked in a battle of life and death.

They lock blades continuously and then Dexter flares his blade against her while he ignites his power! He roars out as she is sent flying into the ark at nearly untraceable speeds! But she recovers expectantly, yet she finds herself once again on the defense as he attempts to blast her with his D-Rifle!

She expertly dodges, but Dexter is aiming in a way to make sure not to hit The Hangar! Blossom notices this and eclipses herself within the Hangar's cannon! Before Dexter has a chance to realize shooting her would be foolish, she is already charging down the barrel of his gun sight and complements her strategy with a quick boot to his head!

His Chronometal has seen better days, but the attack wasn't nearly enough to break anything substantial, just a crack on his visor and a dent here and there.

The cannon behind them spins and spins, nearly at the firing point!

"Come on, Blossom! This is hopeless! Just stop already." He proposes with a slightly smug face. Blossom knows his Chronometal is more powerful than hers, but that is no excuse to lose here! Not now!

"Sorry, Dexter. This has to stop!" She yells as she bolts for the cannon with her B-Saber drawn! Dexter gives chase, but Blossom predicted his movements and set a small trap behind her before she flew off!

"Surprise!" She yells as Dexter is engulfed in spatial fire! It was a fire trap, something Dexter almost completely forgot about.

"Damn... Fire..." He says as his armor buckles and heaves. "WHY IS IT ALWAYS FIRE?!" He blubbers as Blossom reaches the cannon.

It is spinning incredibly fast, but she knows a good cure for fast. She throws a blue orb at the Cannon and freezes it in place! The hinges lock and buckle as the spinning stops and the coolant vents burst as the cannon refuses to turn, even when it should be.

She throws more blue orbs at the spinning parts of the cannon and they lock up and buckle, blowing more vents. Buttercup and Barasia on the other side of the cannon viewing it at full capacity.

"Wow... I didn't think she had it in her." Buttercup slips out to Barasia. "You aren't too mad, are you?" Barasia asks. Buttercup has a hard time thinking and even her facial expression suffers from this, as she cannot retain any frame of being for too long before slipping into something else. In the end, she merely sighs and looks over.

"I was ready to die for this cause... but I wasn't ready to let my sisters get killed for this cause; that includes any inclusion from me. You saw what Bubbles did, she overpowered me when in my demon form... even if it was just for a moment; and for what? To save some random person's life..." Buttercup looks back over to The Hangar. It is wildly exploding in certain places, depressurizing in others... and the cannon itself is completely frozen and jetting out steam.

"I have completely forgotten what it feels like to save random people... the people I used to save all the time. Those were good times... even if it was just blissful youthful ignorance. Hell, that's probably what made it feel so right; so fun, was the fact that we were kids. But Bubbles... she took the worst from these wars, I mean... she's missing an arm for crying out loud! If anyone here should be spiteful or enraged, it should be her... but she's not... those two are the only ones still fighting for what we ALL used to fight for all those years ago..."

Barasia looks over, almost sympathetic. Buttercup is having a very hard time with all of this, but it seems she is finally coming to terms with what has been going on all these years. She looks over to Barasia as well, her hand gripping her own chest out of emotional pain as her speech becomes fatigued.

"W-What the hell have I been doing...?! I w-was about to kill everyone on Earth... a-and for WHAT?!" She fights back her sorrow and rage filled tears and quickly snaps her head away from Barasia's gaze.

She not so quietly takes on her actions alone, looking away from Barasia. Her hand constantly constricting her chest as she fights back the pain. Her eyelids shut so tight that it hurts, the tears rolling out and freezing in space. "F... Fuck..." She huffs to herself. She then feels something on her shoulder and looks back. It is Barasia, with her hand on Buttercup's shoulder, looking right into her eyes with an almost 'thankful' look on her face.

"W-What are you doing?" – "I know that you put it all on the line when it counts... when it counted..." – "Huh? What are you t-talking about?" – "It was during the Second war's end... the one that destroyed the world that is... the one we prevented." – "That one again, huh? I told you I don't know anything about it, everyone experienced it but Bubbles and Me..."

Out of the darkness of space, Him materializes in front of them both. "I think I know what you're getting at, Barasia..." Buttercup, wiping her eyes looks at both Him and Barasia.

"When the Titan... attacked me, you... saved me... you saved my life." – "S-So? We saved each other's lives plenty of times... what made that time so special? Especially since I can't remember..."

"At the time, you called me Lynn. You saved my life by, what I thought at the time was 'giving your life.' I felt so shocked and confused that you, of ALL people sacrificed yourself for me. I didn't even know you on a personal level at the time! Then, you returned to life... something I have never seen before and called me by a name I have never heard before... Lynn."

Him speaks up in remembrance. "Ah, yes... to be honest, there was something off about 'Lynn' that day, but at the time I didn't know what. It turns out that you were only just now exploring this universe at that moment- a bad moment to be sure... if it wasn't for Buttercup's selflessness, it is very likely you wouldn't be here right now."

Buttercup looks over at Him and Barasia back and forth, listening to what happened in their own alternate timeline. "I... I see..." – "I never got a chance to thank you." – "Well... I would say 'you're welcome,' but I don't really remember doing it..." – "The capacity for doing it... your heart and your sense of justice and kindness... it was always there- and always will be!" Buttercup merely looks over at Barasia and breaks into tears without being able to hide it.

"Damn, ha-ha! Fuck...!" She huffs as she happily weeps in front of them both, something neither of them have ever seen.

Sitting on the Cannon as Dexter finally makes it over with his metal badly burned and barely mobile, Blossom has a little smirk on her face.

"Happy now, Blossom? You've destroyed the world's last hope..." – "No I didn't. We are still alive." – "What are you- oh... ha, whatever..." – "What? Was this entire 'plan' in order to save the world, or destroy all of humanity?" Dexter scoffs and looks away. He has been beaten, and to make things worth- it seems Blossom is in the mood for a little taunting.

"It wasn't a trick question, Dexter." She spits. "Save the world, of course." – "Then why are you acting like this chemical was the ONLY way to save it?" – "Because it is!" – "How about the station itself?" Blossom exclaims as she pats the cannon she is sitting on. "What about it?" – "Why not just crash it into the south pole?" – "Your planning skills could use some work, Blossom..." He lets out, annoyed.

"You got any better ideas?" – "I did, you broke it..." – "Stop being such a dick!" She yells out! "I won, okay? The cannon is broken- FOREVER! Now let's think of something quick to save this world." Dexter stretches and gets the kinks out of his heat intolerant armor.

"Yeah, yeah... whatever. Your plan could use some work, but it seems like it's all we got." – "Let's do it then!" Blossom says as she casually floats into the control room.

Dexter merely stays put, almost stunned at how scatter-brained she's being. As if on queue, she comes back out with a remembering look on her face. "Oh yeah, I broke the control room... all of it." – "Yeah, you did..."

After a while of doing nothing, Buttercup and Barasia float into their airspace, now sufficiently confident the fight is over.

"You guys okay?" Buttercup lets out. "I guess..." Dexter sighs. "So... what's the plan?" Barasia asks. "We are going to crash The Hangar into the South Pole and take out the Mother Model M!" Buttercup raises an eyebrow. "So let's do it?" Buttercup lets out, confused as to why they haven't done it already.

"Well... I sort of broke everything..." Blossom lets out, scratching the back of her head. "No problem!" Buttercup lets out unexpectedly. She flies off behind the Station and transforms into her demon persona!

"HAAAAAH!" She roars as she begins to push the entirety of the station into a southern orbit of the planet! The three of them follow.

From his cushy cell on Earth, Utonium looks up into the sky. A smile breaking across his face.

From the city of Megaville, the people look up into the sky. Looks of horror crossing their faces.

From the military bases of America, the people look up into the sky. Knowing that the Neo Powerpuffs were successful.

From the wreckage and carnage, the Model Ms look up into the sky. Preparing for their final battle.

A red meteor, in tow by a Demon! Most people run for safety, others scream and stumble others, some stand mouth agape and others still drop to their knees and begin to pray.

"IT'S NOW OR NEVER!" Buttercup roars as she kicks it into high gear and begins to break through the atmosphere! Dexter, Blossom and Barasia in pursuit- and out of nowhere comes Bubbles! They cut the greetings short; especially since she notices everyone is working together once again. She merely gives a small smile and joins them to the South Pole!

The flames of the atmosphere die out as they reach the frigid air! "HERE IT GOES!" Buttercup yells as she punches The Hangar directly into the amalgamation of Iron and Steel below her!

Dexter begins to charge his energy, as does Blossom! Barasia and Bubbles begin to perform an attack they do in unison they have only ever done one time before; The Rolling Blackwave!

As The Hangar hits the crust of the Earth, everyone; Buttercup included unleash their full power upon the explosions! The dust consumes everything around them, but the raw energy of the attacks break through the blinding debris! The Blackwave charges in last, blasting a giant hole in the crust!

A large smoldering crater is created as all of them halt their attacks and an ear splitting roar is heard permeating all of Earth!

The Iron and Steel wriggle and Writhe as a being rises from the wreckage!

It has feminine features, long black hair that in front is cut to shape an 'M.' Large red eyes blast through the hair and look upon the group as foul beings pore from its iron skin.

"I foresaw your arrivals... pity that everything has to end like this..." It coughs, damaged by the initial attacks.

"It ends now, Mother. Lay down your defenses and let us give you a quick death." Blossom lets out. "My defenses? YOU THINK I AM ON THE DEFENSIVE?!" It roars out as the icy crust of the Earth breaks as giant Model Ms rush at the group!

With barely any time to react, the group is quickly separated from each other as they dodge and weave through the attacks! Buttercup rushes for Mother and it raises its foul claws and locks into battle with the Demonic Powerpuff!

Tendrils of iron and corpse rise from the foul underworld and engulf Buttercup! To her dismay, even her Demon form cannot withstand the evil barbs! She growls as she is forced to the ground and Mother sets her eyes on someone else.

"This is bad!" Dexter lets out as more and more Model Ms rise from the ground and do battle with them! They are all suffering heavy blows and gashes, blood and oil spraying across the air as if it were raining death.

"They are... too strong...!" Blossom says as she blasts through them, only to have them regenerate. Off the horizon, the small clawed Model M swarm joins the battle!

"Oh no, those are the ones powered by people! We can't kill those!" Bubbles blubbers as she is constantly under duress by beings she simply cannot strike.

The battle rages on for only several minutes before the Powerpuff girls realize they are in way over their heads! "D-Damn... This is insane!" Barasia yells out, becoming fatigued. Bubbles is smacked to the ground and Blossom is engulfed in Iron and Blood.

"BLOSSOM!" Buttercup yells as she musters divine strength to rip from the cage she is bound in! She rushes to the group and rips the Model Ms off of her, then she rips them in half; oil spraying everywhere!

"Th... thanks..." Blossom lets out weakly, her armor pierced and blood leaking from every conceivable hole.

"D-DAMN! HIM, EMPOWER BLOSSOM!" – "What about you...?" He asks. "FORGET ABOUT ME! SAVE MY SISTER!" She yells as she constantly bats Model Ms away! "Very well..." Her demon form fades and her dress is once again Green. Even with her power gone, she still smacks the lesser Model Ms out of commission.

As Him enters Blossoms body, she can already feel her wounds healing as everything around her begins to shimmer red. Her energy returns and she feels at one hundred percent, but she cannot say the same about her Chronometal.

"It's ruined..." She says as she discards it and throws it at Mother, who merely smacks it away.

Being held down by Model Ms, Bubbles is also under attack! Before she can scream for help, the Model Ms on her are blasted away by Blossom!

"Thanks..." – "Don't mention it..." She says enigmatically as she looks up at Mother. The dying Model Ms returning her power to nearly maximum potential. Regardless of The Hangar which broke through and nearly killed her itself.

The battle rages on and on, as the heroes make some sort of Progress, Bubbles stands over the discarded Model B. She feels drawn to it, like it was asking for help, like it was calling to her. She picks it up and is flooded by memories, strange memories of those that were not her own.

She closes her eyes, even amidst the carnage of battle and finds a strange calm. She envisions... Bell... the strange girl who was present during the First Chronometal war, who suffered a fate worse than Death at the hands of Model M. Her body skewered and impaled... and to make things worse... she never even got to say goodbye to her father.

The images and memories flood into her mind as rage begins to fill her heart.

The battle continues as Blossom catches eye of Bubbles and her actions. Her eyes go wide as the Chronometal begins to glow and spin around Bubbles. Dexter notices this too, but also notices another feature of what is happening!

"The Chronometal is shattered and reforming around Bubbles! What is...?" He pauses slightly and comes up with and idea. He lands on the ground and discards his own Chronometal. "Dexter?" Barasia asks. Before she gets an answer he chucks it at Bubbles!

"I see..." Him says within Blossom before also leaving her body. "What the...?" She lets slip out.

Mother would have taken this time to strike if she didn't feel an enormous power from nearby!

Model D shatters and swirls around Bubbles as well, who also claims their memories... the memories of, Deedee...

She envisions yet another horrible death, a death from a sister trying to protect her brother! From Mandark... Model M! To make matters worse, Mandark would eventually come back as Model M and terrorize her brother once more! The sadness and anger in her heart grow to nearly uncontrollable levels!

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" She screams out in rage, blowing snow and ice away as she screams! The fragments of the Chronometals and the memories with them Coalesce onto Bubbles as Him also enters her body! She begins to glow a deep purple as the Chronometals combine to form a Super Chronometal, one so glorious it is blinding to all that see it!

The air around them electrifies and the light dies down to reveal the War Goddess within. This new Chronometal, gold and white envelopes her being. Pure rage across her face as she opens her mouth-

"MANDARK! MODEL M!" She roars out as her very voice blasts away ice and cracks the ground! "YOU KILLED DEEDEE! YOU KILLED BELL! YOU ALMOST KILLED YOUR OWN SISTER! AND NOW YOU ARE TRYING TO DESTROY THE WORLD!" She points at Mother as tears grows in her eyes and she bares her fangs-

"I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THIS ANY LONGER!" – "Brave words for a-" Mother tries to say as her arm is blasted off by Bubbles traveling at unknown speeds! A sonic boom roars out as Mother screams in pain.

Model Ms around the battlefield swirl around Mother as a whirlwind of death! Everyone backs away as the tornado itself tears the Earth apart! But Bubbles merely stands within it, her eyes filled with pure rage.

Demonic wings sprout from the Chronometal and are engulfed in holy light. The Chronometal, now giving her an additional arm as well glows and churns with burning anger. The tempest of death around them engulfs everything.

The battlefield glows red with Him's power, but it eventually changes to blue! "Wh-What the hell is going on?" Buttercup stammers as the ground shakes! Everyone tries to keep their footing as the tempest of death is blasted away! The Model Ms hit the ground and burn blue!

As the flames die out, all that is left is Bubbles Flying over Mother. "You fool; I have penetrated the entire planet! You cannot stop me!" It laughs as the ground shatters as tendrils and chains break through the Earth and surround them! "I WONT LET YOU DO THIS!" Bubbles roars as she charges her energy and crashes into Mother!

The light blasts with black waves and electricity engulfs the entire area!

"We have to get out of here, now!" Barasia exclaims, picking Dexter up against his will and flying away. "LET ME DOWN! BUBBLES! WE HAVE TO HELP HER!" – "WE CAN'T, DON'T YOU GET WHAT SHE IS DOING?!" As she says that Dexter's face goes white as he continues to view the battlefield, with Blossom also flying away from it.

"Are you sure about this, Bubbles?" – "It is the only way..." – "I see... you truly are a Hero, Bubbles... I never knew it could end like this."

"DIIIIIIEEEEE!" Mother yells as she reaches full power and attempts to blast Bubbles away, only to receive even more power from her end!

"No, it's time for YOU TO DIE!" She bellows as she engulfs everything in blue power! The energy grows and grows! "N-No... this can't... be...!" Mother blubbers as her limbs are blown away and the energy of the Earthly Model Ms fade and break, but it is not enough power to kill her yet!

"This is it... for Deedee... for Bell... for everyone you killed! FOR MY SISTERS, FOR MY FATHER! YOU WILL DIE!" She yells as her very Chronometal is blown to bits as she taps into the last of her powers! Even the wings placed on her from Him's blessing are burned away! Mother fades from reality as even her silhouette vanishes from sight.

The last of her power leaves her being as she directs the rest of it to the Earth! She screams in both rage and pain as her body tears itself to pieces as she taps into unknown power!

The entire planet heaves and quakes! Tidal waves and hurricanes form in an instant as every Model M is killed and their energy released! The world buckles, buildings shatter and skyscrapers topple! Animals flee for safety and the sky goes dark!

Above the South Pole, blizzards whip up and engulf the entire area as Bubbles begins to feel incredibly weak... but proud of herself.

"You will never be forgotten..." – "I... know... Him..." She falls, burning with black energy. Before she even hits the ground, her entire being fades into red light, leaving only a torn fragment of blue clothing in the crater of Mother Model M.

The storms of the planet die down and the quakes cease as the heroes hastily return to the crater to find Bubbles.

They all scramble around trying to find her. "See anything?" – "Not yet..." They moves rocks and rubble as it begins to snow and the sun begins to set.

"Damn it, where is she?!" Buttercup yells. After a few moments, a red energy appears in front of Buttercup. "Him...?" Everyone stops scrambling around to find her and instead stands and looks at Him.

He raises a piece of blue cloth from the rubble.

Buttercup rises from her knees and takes the scrap. She rubs it around in her hand and looks to the air. To her own surprise, she doesn't feel like crying.

"Buttercup...?" Him asks. She looks over with a smile on her face. "I'm ready to go, Him." She states, to the dismay of the rest of the group. "Go? Go where?" She turns around and looks at everyone.

"Model M is gone, forever. It's time for me to go with Him." – "G-Go?" Blossom stammers as Buttercup begins to shine a red color.

"What's happening?!" Blossom yells as she runs to Buttercup and grabs her hands. The bottom of Buttercup begins to fizzle and fly off, as the rest of her grows transparent.

"We will meet again, I promise, Blossom..." After she says that she completely fades, her essence flying over the entire area. Dexter, Barasia and Blossom all left gawking over what has transpired.

The Chronometal wars have ended, but Bubbles and Buttercup seem to have vanished. All they have to go on is the fact that Him seems to be involved. He disappeared without another word.

The enigmatic actions of those two lead Blossom to an illogical conclusion... that neither of them are really dead.

The entire world breathes a collective sigh of relief as Model M and every trace of everything even relating to it has finally been destroyed. The world has a lot of rebuilding to do, but everyone knows that this was the right path.

Blossom dedicates the rest of her life to preventing anything like this from ever happening again alongside Dexter. The war has taken much from everyone, but Blossom can't help but feel that no-one has really died... She never said goodbye and Him never returned to enlighten her.

Those around her call her... optimistic. A nicer word for foolish. But she does not falter; she knows what she has seen. This world is too complicated to just have things end like this.

She faces forward, never turning back.

* * *

 **AFTERMATH**

Months have passed since the Model Ms of the planet were all wiped out overnight. The chemical Dexter planned on using fell short due to Blossom's intervention and Mother was defeated due to the selfless sacrifice of Bubbles. However, Bubbles disappeared and Buttercup faded into a strange red glow... Him also refuses to show his face.

All of these events tied together lead Blossom to a startling conclusion that neither of them are really dead. She has spent every waking hour since that event studying the blue scrap left behind by Bubbles and any trace material left behind at the South Pole Crater.

"Blossom, have you been in here all day again?" Dexter asks, entering the lab. He looks around her lab; it is even more developed than before. Higher definition scanning devices and trace mineral detectors. Blossom says nothing, still glued to her work.

"You haven't left this lab in over three days... it's time for some air, Blossom." He says as he puts his hand on her shoulder. "DON'T TOUCH ME! Leave me alone, okay?" – "Blossom... this isn't healthy... they are both gone." – "But gone WHERE?! WHY?!" – "Blossom, we were both there that day, we both saw what happened to Buttercup... but we can't know for certain unless Him tells us!" – "He won't... he won't come, he only came for Buttercup all those times..."

Dexter sighs and looks around the room. Not quite as advanced as his own lab, but it is not shabby at all. He puts something down near Blossom's workstation. "At least eat this, Blossom... keep your strength." She pauses her work slightly to look over. "Pancakes...?" – "Your favorite." She hesitates, but eventually goes back to her work.

"I'm not hungry." Dexter merely walks out of the room without so much as a word. The lab doors shut and Blossom is left to the Pancakes. Her stomach growls and she looks over.

"Can't work on an empty tank of gas, now can I?" She caves in and begins to eat. As she chews and tastes, it occurs to her this is the first she has actually eaten in days and begins to scarf it down as if her life depended on it!

She remembers the taste... it is just like the professor used to make, well, almost like it. It's missing the chocolate chips- Her eyes go wide as she bites into the second pancake. "This is... just like the old days... this is his exact recipe!" She eats and eats, then stops herself in thought.

"Old days... Old days... Old days..." She repeats to herself as she puts the plate down. "Demons..." She mutters to herself.

"Did she go for them?" – "Not right away, but I know she will give in, she hasn't eaten in days." – "Thank you, Dexter..." – "Hey, I'm just as worried as you are, Professor... she needs to stop this... it's going to kill her!" They both talk over coffee.

Hours go by and Blossom still hasn't come out. "I'm worried..." – "Don't be... she's hungry, but she still looks healthy... she's a superhero after all!" – "Haha, yeah... you're right..." The hours continue to go by and the sun goes down.

Soon, though... the two of them begin to feel warm... "Do you feel that?" – "Yeah... did someone turn the heater on?" – "Hold on, let me check." Utonium says as he walks over to the thermostat. It says 90 in the front room... but the lab is over 200!

"D-Dexter! The lab, it's boiling!" He stammers as she scrambles to the door! They both rush in and are blasted by a heat wave! "The hell is this?!" They fight back the intense intolerable heat to the inner lab!

"Blossom? BLOSSOM, WHERE ARE YOU?!" They yell out, trying to find her as they spot red wind circulating through the lab. "What the... Him?" Dexter slips out. The two of them grow dizzy and begin to feel faint. "We... can't stay in here! It's too damn hot!" – "I... I agree... Blossom... can take care of... herself..." Utonium responds as they scramble out of the lab back into the main room of the house.

The thermostat reads over 110 and rising! "This is insane...! We have to get out of here!"

"WHERE ARE THEY?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THEM?!" Blossom yells down the red maw, blood dripping from her hands.

"Buttercup is with me, as the pact entails... Bubbles on the other hand... is merely dead, Blossom." A familiar voice sizzles though the maw. "Did you really do all of this merely to check in on us?" – "WHY IS BUTTERCUP WITH YOU?! TELL ME!" Blossom roars!

"Buttercup is my servant forevermore... it was her idea after all. The world is safe, you are safe... she is mine." – "What are you talking about...?" – "Farewell Blossom..." – "NO, WAIT! I WON'T LET YOU!" She yells as she jumps into the gaping portal into hell itself!

Ghosts and spirits pass her by as she falls down the endless amalgamation of suffering and torment. She finally reaches the bottom of the screaming abyss to be met with a giant brilliant Crystal. "What the...?" She sputters.

Him appears behind her and spins her around, enraged. "How dare you, little girl! Have you no idea who I am! I AM THE DARK LORD! You dare invade my realm and for what? Your sister?!" – "You're damn right! Bring me to her, NOW!" – "You arrogant little-" – "STOP!" A familiar voice is heard behind them.

They both look over to the being who said that. It is none other than Buttercup, holding a small blue crystal in her hand. She jumps down and walks toward Blossom. Buttercup is seemingly different at a glance. She looks as if she is in her demon form... but she is the size of her normal form and her muscles are far less pronounced... as if she were something of a demon of lust.

"Blossom... you shouldn't have come here... it's okay, I'm okay! Really! This was all my idea to save you... guys... from the Chronometal wars! I paid my price, so here I am." – "Buttercup...! Why?!" She pleads. "You of all people should know how much more this war could have taken out of this world! I gave up my eternity to have Him help us as much as possible! Now look! The world is safe- forever! It's okay, Blossom... now please, go back." Blossom looks down and clenches her fists.

"Where's Bubbles..." – "She's dead, Blossom..." Blossom looks up with tears in her eyes. "So, what... after death, we all just disappear?! This is Hell! Isn't this where spirits go?!"

Buttercup raises the blue crystal into the air and it floats on its own as it gently wafts toward the even larger crystal. It attaches itself to it and begins to emit a small blue glow before becoming one with the crystal itself.

"That was Bubbles, Blossom." – "Wh-What?!" She sputters as she turns around to view the crystal mass. It is enormous, larger than she can see completely in any direction. "This thing... is where all life goes...?" – "Now it is." Buttercup exclaims. "Buttercup... why are you telling her this?" Him asks, not sure what is driving her in this direction.

"Blossom, there is something that Him never told us during the wars." – "DON'T TELL HER! She must not know!" She diverts her gaze, knowing she isn't supposed to say anything, yet she feels that she must.

"Blossom!" She yells, grabbing her hand. "You must live! Don't worry about us! Everything will be alright in the end! Just... just go back and live your life and be happy!" After she says that Blossom begins to float upwards.

"What's happening?! I don't want to go, not yet! Buttercup!" She exclaims with futility. "Goodbye, sister... we will meet again, by that time I will tell you everything... go have a nice life..." – "BUTTERCUP!"

She is flown out of the red portal and it closes around her. The lab around is in ruins, with molten machinery and singed papers. There is blood on the ground in circles and patterns, Blossom's own blood she used to grant an audience with the Devil himself.

Her hands burn, open wounds coated in demonic soil. She weakly walks out of the room, never looking back.

She never tells anyone about what she has seen or what she has heard. Days, weeks, months... years pass and the world is finally back to normal. Model M a fleeting memory, but its lesson; Omnipresent. Blossom however, can never force herself to actually enjoy this life she has...

But she pushes on, knowing that's what her sisters want. Maybe someday she can even fool herself into being happy again.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Probably the most fun tangent to write, Tangent C starts strong, goes strong, ends strong, and dies stronger. It was an emotional roller coaster which, nonetheless, still proves that these wars will always end in tragedy. There is a few more to The Chronometal Panic left to be posted. The alternate ending (A kind of tangent D, except it's really short) as well as the Barasian War, a mini story taking place in the far future._


	13. Barasian War 1: The Black Eyes See

Chronometal Panic Sub-Story  
The Barasian War  
Chapter 1: The Black Eyes See

Gears and pistons churn, crank and twist in the back-round, almost deafening. There is no dust, and very little oxygen in this iron cave. The sub level is over a square kilometer in size, and countless sub-levels are present. Many life forms dared conquer this labyrinth, yet here is has laid untainted for thousands of years.

In all of the levels, there are many strange cylindrical devices, imbedded in the very walls. Yet it is so dark, you cannot make out anything through its glass casing.

But then, a most unexpected noise lets out...

In a serene and laid back voice of a young woman, a very startling, but soothing message vibrates the iron corridors. "The time has come, my copies, my children. This green human-less world, a mere echo if its former shell awaits the memory of what once was. Awaken, and remind the Universe of what was born here... us... so that we may never be forgotten..."

What feels like an earthquake goes off, shaking the entire installation to its foundation. Every single cylinder opens at the same time, yet it is still far too dark to determine what is inside.

One by one, lights switch on, and floors become well lit...

11, 23, 9, 41, 98, 100... 102... but a pair of these remains shut... 2 and 101.

Beings begin to walk out of the tubes. They all look exactly the same...

They are all human-like; they seem like young women, wearing black dresses with a solid white stripe on its core. They have long black hair and abyssal pupils. They look around to each other, as if expecting this to happen for a long time, yet not sure how to react to the event. One eventually speaks up, drawing attention of the others.

"Okay, if you are all undamaged and running at peak efficiency, we all know why we are here. Our original creator has built us to re-inhabit the world, now that it is devoid of humans. She made it abundantly clear of that, especially since she set us the spitting image of herself, and chose to set us back to her standard programming, thus making us loath the civilized world, wishing only for its destruction: That all of humanity has been annihilated." Several of the self explained androids nod amongst themselves, coming to the same conclusion.

"It seems we are set with only one ulterior objective other than our original settings. She intended us to inhabit the world, thus making it seem like humanity still remains. Why? I am not sure... but so long as there aren't any humans, I have no objections. But such an odd request of a batch of super soldiers cannot go without being berated. If anyone wishes to leave this planet, feel free." They nod again, and several start walking away, exploring their new surroundings.

The original speaker looks back to the device she walked out of. '3' is the number is displays. She looks to the other devices. 4, 5, 6... All of the expected numbers. But not 2, and not 1. She muses...

While deep in thought, she also notices that she has a marking on her left shoulder. Upon closer inspection, it is a small number 3. Using what information she has she determines that it is due to her being in the third tube. Is she the third android? It seems only logical.

One of the other androids walks up to Three, and strikes up a conversation. "Hey, have you seen a 2 or a 1 anywhere?" - "No, I was just wondering that myself..." She rubs her number, and the other android notices her... and looks at her own shoulder. "Five huh? Am I the fifth android?" She says as she looks at her tube. "Hmm... looks like it..." She mutters.

As one of the androids near a certain wall, it fires open at both sides, revealing an extensive stairwell. "Hey guys, look over here!" She lets out, alerting the others. All of them walk to the well; it goes both up and down, but only up one level. The way down looks nearly infinite. One of the androids speak up: "If we are going to find 1 and 2, we might want to go up." The others agree and go up, while others go down, curious.

As they reach the top, another door fires open, and what they see is almost alien...!

The entire level is coated in a layer of dirt and grass, moss and reeds submerged in pools of water. Not even an inch apart, the two worlds have lived side by side for millennia, never touching each other... until now. "What... is this place?" Six lets out. Three steps forward. "It is as the recording stated, this is a green world, devoid of Human life. For thousands of years we rested here, waiting out the restoration of the planet. And here we are, on the top level, it seems nature has broken in already."

They not so cautiously explore the level. The ground they walk on is squishy, wet dirt and soggy moss everywhere. The entire wall is nearly stripped of metal as the roots break through.

As they explore, they find the door inward, completely open, being forced by an invading boulder. They can see the way out, a complete jungle by the looks of it. As they near it, they hear another android shout:

"H-Hey, come look at this!" The others turn from their path, and head to the screaming android. It seems to be another tube, but this one is special, being on a level all its own. But what is more interesting is the number.

Two.

"Is there no One?" Three lets out, talking to herself... "What if..." One of them says, before stopping herself. "No, go ahead." Three encourages. "What if... one was the original and two is the first 'clone' made, but the second one of all of us?" The androids talk amongst themselves... before one of them also speaks up.

"Wait, why isn't it opened?" As they look around for the answer, they see that one of the wires is completely stripped, as if chewed through. And other bare cables are submerged in water and muck.

"Two will have to wait; we cannot repair this now, perhaps later." They squint as they try to look inside. They can see a silhouette of the being, but not much else. "If she isn't broken, she will continue to rest, if she is broken... we are wasting our time."

The androids nod, several heading out of the crushed door, others to the stairwell, others to the number two pod. But Three stands there looking at all of them.

"I get why she made us... I guess. To inhabit this world devoid of humans. But why?" She muses some more... "What if... what if there is more to this than we are seeing?" She looks around the room. The only androids remaining are those who are affixed on the capsule and others coming out of the stairwell. Their numbers are higher than her group, in the tens and teens. One of them has a much higher number, 120.

"How is it down there?" Three lets out. "Not much different then any other floor... besides this one of course. What, is that a failed pod? Yeah we had one on sub-level 13. Number 101." - "Hmm, we can tell the problem here is stripped and bare wiring, what was 101's problem?" - "Not sure, we couldn't find out. We even forced it open to look at the android, but it just wasn't activated. We think she missed the activation code... There's nothing we can do about it now, though. So we closed it again."

Three nods... "I guess that's it then. Our fate is our own." She looks to the door, and walks to it as another android flies back in, seemingly angry. She fumes and stomps around: "What is it?!" Three lets out. "What a crock of shit! There are humans! I saw an entire village! She lied!" Three's eyes go wide as a primal rage builds within her.

Android number eight continues to stomp around, making a large scene and catching the unblinking attention of all those around her. "WHY?! Dammit, I was looking forward to a life without humans, yet here they are!" Three shakes her head. "How? The recording said there weren't-" - "THERE ARE!" She roars out as she punches a wall causing a small avalanche, but emerging from it unscathed.

Other androids share in her sentiment, while the others choose not to, causing a thought to appear in Three's head. "Wait." - "Trust me, they are there!" - "Not that!" She assures. "Look around you." Eight looks around, still angry, about half of the androids are also pacing, but the other half are either lost in thought or just standing.

"What?" She asks, inquisitive. "Aren't we all clones?" - "What kind of half brained... ... ...!" She lets out before stopping herself.

The others slowly come into sync with her words. "Y-Yeah... if we are all clones, why aren't we ALL angry?" Three nods at the situation. "It would appear we all have slight personality differences. Possibly random generation." The androids talk amongst themselves in a fevered pace.

Four speaks up: "Yeah, it seems your quirk is being the leader!" Three looks over to her. She isn't kissing up, she is being serious, and Three considers the possibility. "That would make sense..." She lets out, agreeing with herself and Four.

Eight yells out: "Who cares?! HUMANS ARE HERE! CIVILIZED HUMANS!" - "Shut up!" Three snaps out! "Haven't you heard anything we said?! We aren't bound to the baser rules of our programming! We aren't all the same!" - "Well, don't YOU hate humans?" She looks down... she feels the rage in the pit of her stomach.

"Yes... but the information at hand is conflicting with itself. We need to learn more about this world, why she lied to us and why they are still alive if she was wrong in the first place." - "Oh, real nice. Learn about them before we incinerate them! Why not just kill them now?! Who cares WHY they are here!" Several androids speak up with Eight, while others keep silent.

"I want them dead as much as you do, but I also crave answers... order... stability! I say we interrogate them." Eight briefly considers the option, before breaking into a toothy smile. "Not good enough... they die!" She says as she turns to the door.

As fast as lightning, Three bolts behind Eight and pins her to the ground with her own arm. "D-Damn! What's your problem?!" - "I said: We interrogate them. GOT IT?!" She barks out as the ground breaks under the pressure she is expelling. "F-F-FINE! STOP!" She whimpers out. Three releases her causing her to snap into the mud.

The other androids look upon the situation with mixed feelings. Five yells out: "What gives you the right to do that?! We are the same!" Three bolts her eyes to Five causing her to recoil back. "The same you say? Hehe... we just disproved that. I am the leader. If you want to challenge me for dominance, feel free." Five diverts her eyes.

She looks out the shattered door and addresses all of the androids at once. "Some of you wish for bloodshed. Other wish for answers. Others still, wish to explore this vast, contradictive world. Come with me and you will all quench your lusts, for I too wish for nothing less then the complete and total understanding and dominance of this world. Humans and all."

Most of the room, most with different goals, agree with Three's widespread life plan, and follow her to the door, while others continue in the Labyrinth.

Three leads herself out of the door and flies upward to get a good view of the world around them, androids following.

There is a mountain range north of them, and a large lake to the east. Everywhere else, including their current position is completely blanketed in Jungle. Eight flies up, catching Three's attention. "It was over there..." She lets out simply, and Three nods. They fly off to the west, where the forest starts to recede.

Before their eyes, they do indeed see human life, but other than eight, they are all in shock.

It's... a village. Not a city, not a town...

"My... inner GPS says we are in western North America... this looks like an African, or early European tribe!" Seven lets out. "We came here for answers... and be damned we will get them!" Three yells out, descending right for them! Many androids more than willing to follow along.

"Remember, find out whatever you can... then do what you wish with them!"

"Etchua? Can you check up on the gatherers for me? I have my hands full with Blossom." - "Ehhh... fine. You owe me though." He walks off with a half forced smirk on his face as something catches his ear. The entire village stops what they are doing and looks around.

What seems like the horizon breaking into meteors, odd looking girls crash in from the sky, breaking the huts and flying off with people!

"W-WHAT THE HELL?!" Etchua yells out! "What is this?!" The red haired woman screams, running for cover! One of the girls lands and looks Etchua right in the eyes, with a devilish determination in her eyes. "W-W-W-Wh-" - "Shut up." She commands. She grabs him by the tattered shirt and flies off into the sky. "ETCHUA!" The red haired woman screams!

Two other identical looking girls fly down to meet her on her level. They immediately catch the gaze of a small infant in her arms. They look to each other, but not for long. As they near her, she yells out in protest! "N-No! Go away! Leave Blossom alone!" The two girls merely continue on...

"W-What do you want from us?!" Etchua blubbers out, being hoisted over a mile in the air! The girl with the '3' tattoo responds. "Why are you all here...?" - "H-Huh?!" He lets out, confused and terrified. "WHY ARE THERE HUMANS HERE?!" She roars!

"I... I don't know what you... ... wait..." She raises her eyebrow. "Th-There's an ancient legend-" She looks at him with rage building in her eyes, as she raises her arm with metallic noises. "What a waste of my-" - "WAIT! It spoke of a time before us! A time where all humans were eradicated! But that we may continue coming back!" She lowers her primed gun-arm and flies lower to the ground.

"B-But I won't tell you unless you promise to let my family and friends live!" - "You are in no room to bargain, scum!" He merely gulps and remains steadfast- albeit shaking like a leaf. "Haha... hard bargainer, aren't we?" She flies to the ground.

Now aflame, the village looks nothing like it did only a few moments ago. All of the humans are huddled into the middle by all the black clothed girls. Three lowers to the ground and tosses Etchua to the pile's border. "Oww..." He yelps.

"It's about time you spoke, worm. Why are you here?" - "Y-You see... the legend goes... uh..." He gulps and shivers. Eight speaks up: "They are so full of it, can we kill them now?!" Three looks over to the group and to Eight. "It seems they really have nothing to say. Might as we-" - "N-No! Umm... it's just... I... forgot it..."

"Haha... worthless..." Three lets out. "Go ahead girls, maybe the next village will tell us more." Like a loaded gun, the girls all take off at once!

"STOP!" A commanding yell is heard from the forest, causing all the androids to halt and feel a fleeting anticipation to cross them, bloodlust abound!

A red haired girl and several men are at the border with armor and weapons at their arms. Shields and swords, however. "B-Blossom!" Etchua yells out!

The girl supposedly named Blossom raises her right hand to face the group, with an odd looking bracelet. "By my ancestors, you will all leave this area, or face immediate destruction!"

Three marches to the self proclaimed hero. "You ancestors won't help you now... and they will not hear you as I send you screaming into Hell. Now defend yourself!" She recommends as she and her compatriots fire at her and her group!

Blossom roars and hoists her sword above! A deep glow permeates her wristband as she is overcome with a deep and nearly blinding blue glow! As the light dims, her hair is a lustrous golden color, not red as it once was. "Defend yourself...!" She lets out in a taunt!

A slight calm pierces the battlefield...

Three opens the attack with a pronounced rush toward Blossom, with many androids following close by, and others flying above the battle! Three extends a blade from her arm and clashes with Blossom's, neither give an inch!

The primitive jungle trees flap and heave at the constant battle! The men around Blossom, though mere humans are putting up constant unbreakable resistance! "W-What the hell?!" One of the androids lets off frustrated! Three and Blossom constantly fight each other, never surrendering any ground to the other, even when comrades of either side interfere!

"You fight well *Hng* for a human! *ha!*" Three yells out, amused! "Begone, Demon!" Blossom simply responds with, not sharing the sentiment. Blossom's golden hair flutters and banks from the swift movement of combat.

Then Three notices something about Blossom's soldiers. There is a small blue aura crawling on the ground and reaching them, originating from Blossom, or more specifically: her bracelet. "Girls, Blossom is your enemy, as long as she stands those humans will not give! Help me out!" As soon as she says that, Blossom's face seems to lose a little bit of color.

All of the androids converge on Blossom, but the Men back up and form a tortoise formation with their large shields! "At your side Milady!" She raises her sword to stick out of the top of the formation, and it expels an enveloping blue shield! The androids constantly try to break it, but aside from a few indentations, it doesn't break!

Three looks around the shield, for any sign of weakness... then she spots something:

One of the soldiers spears are slightly protruding out of the shield!

"GIRLS, THERE!" She points and they all attack the location at once and it quickly gives and shatters, sending the humans flying backwards! The men fall to the ground unshelled by the brace, and they all take off at individual soldiers as Three lunges at Blossom to prevent her from being heroic!

Three pins her to the ground as she looks on horrified that her men are being torn to shreds at the seems! "Looks like you lose!" - "D-Damn you!" She growls as her hair flashes an even more astute golden coloration! She forces Three off with relative ease and retains a defensive position.

The androids look upon her, circling her... waiting for an opportunity to strike...

She darts her eyes from robot to robot, and the first sign of fear crosses her face. "Give up..." Three lets out simply. "NEVER!" She screams out as she rockets toward the village, several androids attempt to stop her but she narrowly dodges them!

She picks up as many people as possible and flies off, leaving several villagers behind! "I am so sorry, please forgive me!" She yells out as she takes off into the air, quickly leaving sight! Three's jaw nearly drops. "Sh... she can fly?!" - "Who cares, she left people, let's finally get what we deserve!" Three looks around as the robots take off to the group.

"Wait." She lets out. "What now? There's nothing left to ask, let's just kill them!" - "We can ask about that woman. And her powers... if we run into her again, or worse yet... MORE like her, we may not win." The androids look at each other, the truth of her words sinking in quickly. They look to the people left behind, mostly men; she must have taken off with the women and children.

The androids encircle the remainders; Etchua is present in the group. Three picks him up from the neck, losing patience with this certain fool. "Who was she, and why are PEOPLE HERE?!" She emphasizes as she strengthens her grip on his windpipe!

"I'll... never... tell-" He tries to finish as she snaps his neck. She tosses him aside like garbage as a primal satisfaction permeates her being. "I'll ask nicely one more time... who was that woman? WHO IS BLOSSOM?!" She roars out, causing several men to run from the group, quickly being assassinated by the circling androids.

One of the men, ripe with age, yet looking healthy for an old man rises to his feet, and balances with his cane. "You demons wish to know about the royal bloodline?" Three looks over, happy to finally get an answer. "Well, I'll tell you this, heathens. She is descended of an angel, an angel of life and death. Her bloodline makes her impervious to the likes of you!"

Three walks over, and meets the elder at eye level. "It looks like your angel left you to die, geezer." - "Hohoho... it is true that she left an old coot like me here, but my time is near anyway. But should you ever meet her again; her holy weapon will smite you!" - "Holy weapon eh? Would that be her bracelet?" The old man nods with a smile crossing his face.

"It does these old bones good to know they worked their entire lives to help that one... the one who is destined to save the world in the next Millennia!" - "Millennia? There is still a good 10 years until the year 7000 old man, and until that time I will ensure this planet is devoid of your kind; and even after that time, I will control this entire world!"

Three snaps her fingers as a cruel bloodbath begins...

"Th... Thank you Lady Blossom..." One of the women on her back lets out as they fly through the air. She says nothing back, knowing full well that in a moment's notice, she decided the fate of over 20 men. "Your... daughter is okay, Blossom. I just want to let you know she's growing up fast..."

"I thought that growing up outside of the capital would make her a better, more humble person... I see that even that prospect is impossible now. I will return you all to the capital and inform King Leon of these demons." Blossom lets out coldly.

"What about your daughter?" Blossom says nothing. One of the other women speak up: "If it is because you don't want to subject her to the fate she is destined-" - "I will save the world myself! I will not let my only daughter kill herself before she even grows up! No-one must know of her existence outside of the survivors of this village! I will fight for a world where she may live in peace!"

Blossom continues to fly, her hair gradually shifting from gold back to red. The capital is within sight and she lowers to the ground, and lets them off. Most of the rabble walks into the town proper, as the woman holding the baby approaches Blossom.

"Are you sure about this?" - "I will defeat the darkness." - "The legend states that all those who fought their fate fell at its hand, and the next in line still had to sacrifice herself." Blossom looks away.

"Don't let her grow up without a mother, as well as growing only to the age of Eleven before her premature death, Blossom..." Blossom chokes up... "Dammit... why does this stupid system exist?! She's only a child! WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO DIE BEFORE SHE EVEN KNOWS WHAT LIFE IS?!"

Blossom looks to the baby in the woman's arms. She takes her and looks at her, still crying. The baby continues to sleep, even through the carnage of earlier. "Blossom... I am so sorry..." She says to her same named child. She closes her eyes and cradles the infant as her hair turns back into a deep red.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _This is the first chapter of the Mini-Story "The Barasian War." It was so small that I decided, when writing the Chronometal Panic back on Snafu, that I would sort of "mesh?" it with the Chronometal Panic. Its direct ties are minimal, at best, as it covers Briarus somewhat, as does The Chronometal Panic at certain times.  
_

 _This world being set up in this, The Barasian War, is very important and comes up in the story a lot later on, specifically in The Ancient War, a story I've only just now started writing as of this post._


	14. Barasian War 2: The Black Hands Control

Chronometal Panic Sub-Story  
The Barasian War  
Chapter 2: The Black Hands Control

Kneeling down in the throne room, a high ranking woman urges for a council with the king.

"Please, I need to talk to King Leon!" - "I am sorry lady Blossom, but King Leon is in a diplomatic meeting with the surrounding kingdoms." She rises and pleads with the steward. "Please... this cannot wait; the entire kingdom is in jeopardy!" The steward pauses. "I... can pass a message along-" - "No, this information is too sensitive- I need to speak to him directly!" - "But He is..."

Blossom removes her wristband and places it on the ground as a gesture to the kingdom. "As heiress to the divine throne of the Earth I demand an audience with King Leon!" The steward nods, unflinchingly obedient to the acts of the angels. "Of course, by enactment of holy code, I will hold his meeting for a later date." - "Thank you..."

Five men sit in a chamber addressing an articulate scrawling on the table.

"The holy kingdom of Megavisse will not be pushed around by the southern states, if you do not pull back your troops we will be forced into a battle the likes of which no-one wishes to see. The Day of Judgment nears and we cannot afford to waste our energy on pointless conflict!" The man in a dark red suit of armor states to the men of the Table.

"Your spreading of baseless dogma must stop... we have scientific evidence that this world existed far before the day of the Reckoning." The man being directly addressed by the red barks out. "I will not tolerate such heresy, ambassador. The holy kingdom of Megopolis will re-surface one day and wipe the non-believers from existence."

"Upon who's word, upon what proof do you stand and preach such certainties? If your 'religion' is correct, we are all doomed in the next ten years! But if we are not... and your hypocrisy costs the lives of hundreds of thousands of our people, we will never forgive you!" - "Noted, ambassador... but know this... if in ten years the Reckoning comes and your nation refuses to help us-" - "We are a country of science... if the evil one arises... I give you my word our nations will band together to stop it."

The man in red sits down seemingly pleased. "That will be all ambassador..." He bows not so graciously and sits at the table. One of the other men stands up on queue- "Ah, now for the words of the east... what have you, Ambassador?" Before he has a chance to speak, the chamber door flies open. Almost disgusted the man in red nearly throws his blade at the person.

"What is it, steward... these are delicate matters and I made specific requests to not be disturbed." - "It is... Blossom, sire... she enacted Holy Code and desires an exclusive audience with you."

The man in red pauses, almost all rage leaving his being, being replaced by other deeper emotions. "Men, we must hold this meeting for a later date, my church calls for me." The men rise from their chairs and leave to their respective rooms to prepare for departure to their capitals.

He walks to his throne and sits, overlooking the kneeling knight- Blossom. "Rise, child of the Two Angels... and address your king." She stands up and bows graciously, yet hastily. The king notes her speed and cuts formality. "What is it, Lady Blossom?" - "King Leon, the lake village of Petra has been destroyed."

The king raises an eyebrow. "Was it the south? Must we declare a pointless and arduous war so close to the day of Reckoning...?" Blossom shakes her head, which causes a wave of confusion to strike the King. "Then... what was it?"

She tries to make eye contact with him, but she constantly veers off, trying to find suitable words. "Out with-" - "Demons, my Lord..." He nearly fires off of his throne and stands atop the rise. "Demons... are you sure, Blossom?" She kneels toward the King, the gesture only too clear. "Yes my liege..."

He looks around the room, in light thought. "You have seen these... demons?" - "I've fought them myself." He looks to Blossom almost disappointed. "Lady Blossom, you mustn't put yourself in danger so close to the Reckoning, if we lost you the evil one would surely erase the world..." She says nothing.

"...That aside, what did these demons look like?" She shakes her head. "They looked... human, my King!" He sits back in the throne, taking it all in at a certain pace. "What do you suppose we should do about this threat, Child of the Two Angels?" - "We should prepare for battle... and I fear our walls will hold no resistance for them." - "What do you mean?" - "My liege... these beasts can fly!"

"Three, take a look at this." Thirty lets out. She hands her a charred book labeled: The Twin Angels. Judging by the thickness and quality, it seems like a religious textbook. "Have you read this?" - "Not yet, we thought you should have first look." Three nods and Thirty walks away. She looks around the second floor of the installation... there is very little light.

Book in hand she walks toward floor one, seeing androids still working on the Number 2 pod. "How is it coming along?" - "Poorly... we don't have enough resources at hand, there are supply rooms on some of the floors but they are locked way tighter than we thought. Until then, unless one of us dies... in which I am not hoping for by the way, we aren't fixing this at all." Three nods and leaves the lab.

Now outside, she flies upward, noticing other androids are coming and going quickly, as if the lab was a hive.

She opens the textbook in the broad daylight and begins to dissect whatever information it has to go off of.

-Upon the dawn of destruction, shortly after the eve of creation... the Two Angels, the Eldest and Youngest look upon the beast of no name.-

-With their greatest of strength, the Two Angels force the beast into the Earth for a thousand years.-

-The Eldest of angels follows the beast into the world's heart to keep it from emerging, while the Youngest remains upon the flat land to watch over her flock.-

-The holy color, Red: permeates the evil and ignites it for all to see so that there would be no mistaking the darkness at hand. The angels of Gold and Red born of the Earth, protect it forevermore.-

"Angels of Gold and Red? The holy color is red... like Blossom..." Three pauses, almost not believing what she is about to say. "Her hair also turned gold... is it... possible...?!" She shakes her head and continues reading.

-The beast, though bested five times is destined to return a sixth time, once again doing battle with the Angel of Red, guided by the Angel of Gold. The battle will rupture the world as it has five other times, but fear not for the Angels of the Earth will guide us to a better tomorrow...-

"Rupture the world as it has... five other times?" Three pauses. "Is it... possible that the world was destroyed, and our original creator thought that humanity would never recover? If so... that would explain it..." She nods, putting the pieces together.

She flips through the pages and notices there are countless other stories within it, but satisfied with the information at hand she returns to the lab to address the other androids.

Three descends to the earth to enter the lab, but something catches her eye off the side of the entrance. It's another android, but she's doing something Three can't quite make out.

"What's going on over there?" She asks, approaching- causing the android to recoil and cover up the mound of dirt behind her. Three relents, noticing a pained expression on the android's face. She catches her number on her shoulder, 150.

"Fine, I won't pry." She says as she begins to walk away- "W-Wait..." One Fifty lets out. Three turns around to see her standing above the mound of dirt. At the head of the dirt looks like a stone with carvings of it.

"Wait...! Is that... a grave...?" One Fifty nods somberly. "Did... did we lose someone?" She pauses... before shaking her head no. "Then... who...?" She shakes her head almost embarrassed. "It was... the..." She gulps before stopping.

Three almost doesn't want to continue the conversation, but being the leader she feels obligated to hear her out. "What is it One Fifty... I promise I will not judge you." She gulps again before finally saying: "It was the old man in the village..."

Three looks perplexed and cocks her head to the side. She walks up the gravestone and looks at the etchings. "Emil? His name was Emil?" - "I used things on his person to find his name out... such as that." She points to a shiny object at the tip of the grave.

It's a ring...

"Why...? They are our enemies." One Fifty looks away and almost looks like she is in tears, further confusing Three. "I... don't know. I just... don't feel the way you guys do about this... it hurts me to kill them." Three recoils, startled before feeling a sinking feeling in her stomach.

It is more than possible that One Fifty doesn't have any innate hatred for the humans, and in fact may have love or pity for them...

"I... I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Three lets out, causing One Fifty to look over. "You're... not mad?" - "No, why would I be? If anything you should be mad at us for making you do this..." They both turn their eyes to the grave before One Fifty speaks again.

"I found a book somewhere on burial rights. To be flat in the dirt... facing the core of the Earth so that their spirit would join the gold angel in her crusade against the darkness..." Three looks up, almost amazed at One Fifty. "I... didn't know our people could show such compassion..." - "Compassion..." One Fifty spits out.

"What's wrong?" - "I have to pick a side, and I will not leave you guys... I cannot show compassion to them... but..." She begins to pull her hair as a tear hits the dirt. "I don't know! I am so confused!" She yells out! Seething, eyes shut and huffing she feels something unexpected.

She opens her eyes to see Three hugging her, which causes an unstoppable blush. "W-Wha?" - "I won't make you do this..." One Fifty pries Three off of her, much to Three's surprise. "I won't turn my back on you guys, you are all family..." She says, causing Three to gaze at One Fifty.

"Then what will you do, continue killing them?" Three lets out, almost cold. "I..." - "Will bury them according to their beliefs." She looks up almost stunned. "Huh?" Three looks away, toward the grave. "Are we monsters? Maybe... but you care for them in a way I could never. It's in our nature to hate them... and it is in yours to show mercy and compassion, it is what makes you... you."

She walks away on that note, into the lab, leaving One Fifty to herself. She floats up and looks to the mountains, and smiles...

There are countless shallow graves there... at that point the clouds turn dark and it begins to rain.

The town, in an uproar, causes people to flee into their houses, leaving only the braves and people of law enforcement on the streets. Blossom walks down the road to a nearby Inn, which seems to have a few more guards than others. The rain clinking against their armor as they stand resolute at the building.

She walks in, catches eye with the Innkeeper, and follows her to the basement. Once there, the Keeper bows and leaves the basement to Blossom.

"Luca, where are you?" - "Over here Lady Blossom!" They see each other and Blossom eyes the infant at her breast. "I see you are still safe... that is good, has anyone seen the child?" - "Only people who think it's mine, or those who KNOW it's yours." Blossom nods.

The baby turns its attention to Blossom and begins to smile and squeal. Luca hands her the baby, which she cradles in her arms. Buttoning up her shirt, Luca begins to speak. "How much longer are you going to keep her a secret, Blossom?"

Holding the baby who begins to fall into a contented sleep, Blossom begins to speak softly. "As long as it takes..." - "But-" - "We have had this conversation hundreds of times, and I will continue to tell you, she does not deserve to die... that is my destiny, not hers..." Luca continues to eye Blossom.

"Well, what about those monsters? What are we going to do about them?" Blossom, rocking the child to sleep speaks softly once more. "Whatever we can, Leon is arming the walls with sentries, and the entire town is on high alert. If they reach here I will do whatever I can to stop them." Luca nods...

"I... have to go..." Blossom says sadly, returning the now sleeping baby to Luca's arms. Seeing Blossom halfway up the stairs, Luca lets out one final remark. "Don't die, Blossom... let her have a mother..."

With the speech over, Three turns to Eight, who seems to be tossing a large bone into each of her hands, back and forth. "What's that you got there?" She asks curiously. "Oh this? It's a leg-bone from our latest conquest. I wanted the skull but someone wanted it more than me." - "Who?" - "This is an odd conversation... I think it was a higher number... One Hundred... something. Twenty? Thirty? Whatever, the thing is she wanted the entire body, and even fought me for it... bloodthirsty bitch, huh? I still managed to snag a leg." She says playfully as she juggles it.

"What are your thoughts on the speech?" - "Not many, I will tell the truth. At least we have a lead as to why they might still be here, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to kill them, does it?" - "Of course not... all I wanted was answers, and I got them" Eight breaks into a toothy smile.

"Good answer... so when do we attack again?" - "I sent Four on a scouting mission with five others, if they find any human encampments, they will return here and tell us."

As soon as she says that, six androids walk through the entrance with excited looks on their faces.

"We found a castle just CRAWLING with people! And I think we even found Blossom again!"

Floating above a medieval looking city, they are hidden by the rain and fog...

"Third building from the southeastern watch tower, the Inn. She is in there..." Four lets out. "So what's the plan? Just drop down there and kill everyone?" Eight eagerly asks.

Still in the rain, protected by the fog of war; Three ponders. "I have something far more fun in mind..."

*Meanwhile, in a nearby bar...*

"Are you alright? You have had five pints already..." - "Yeah... I'm fine... just leave the bottle and leave me alone..." She spits coldly. "Alright, but just remember... it's only on the house cause' we all need ya..." She snickers a little bit, taking the bottle and a swig, as he walks away.

Slamming it on the table, she works through deep problems in her head... but she can never come to a real answer. "I can't let her die... I have to be the one, it's my destiny..."

The door opens as two new customers come in, catching the eye of a few of the men in the bar, but blending in none the less. She eyes the two people, identifying that they are female but not much else. She takes another swig and diverts her eyes.

The two girls reach the bar and talk to the bartender, who eventually points to Blossom. It catches her eye and Blossom focuses on the girls, curious.

They are wearing brown cloaks, like those from the church of her religion, but she cannot make out anything about the women, other than their long black hair spilling out of the cowls.

They approach her as one sits at the table, and the other oversees. Blossom still cannot make their faces out.

"Can I help you?" She asks inquisitively, not sure why members of her church needed to ask a bartender where she was.

"Hello, Blossom... we are here to ask only a few questions..." Blossom sighs, being all too aware of boring pilgrims asking her about her divine lineage.

"Okay, fine... make it quick." - "Do you know where your child is right now?" Blossom nearly fires out of her chair to draw her sword at the mere words they speak, but she stays seated... defensively. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"That's strange... I guess Luca lied to us then..." - "L... Luca? She told you? Why?" - "It wasn't hard; I assure you... she was easily persuaded."

Blossom pauses at the situation at hand. "Persuaded? What? What's going on, what are you two talking about?!" The one sitting at the table lets down her cowl as Blossom gasps!

Black hair.

Black eyes.

It is the once known demons!

She rises from her chair to draw her weapon as the other one raises her palm as a gesture of pause. "You don't want to do that... if you want Luca or your daughter to live you will do as we say..." Blossom growls as other people in the bar start paying attention to them.

"You might want to be subtle... if we get found out; you don't want to know what we will do to them..." Blossom gulps and casually walks to and then out of the door.

The rain seems to be letting up somewhat, and the people in the town still seem to be in an uproar. Now flanked by the two androids, one of them speaks. "So afraid of something they don't even know about... things that look like them... things that are already here...!" One of the women leads Blossom to the gate, which open upon the guards seeing her.

They continue walking for a few minutes before reaching what looks like a burned down shack. One of the androids rips the door from its hinges to reveal the beings within.

Five other androids, as well as Luca and the baby Blossom! "Why... why are you all doing this...?!" Luca yells out, terrified, her hair being held by one of the girls. The two following Blossom tear their cloaks off and push Blossom into the shack.

Seven androids surround them in almost battle ready stances, not taking any chances. "We are the Barasian, androids created over five thousand years ago... roughly around the same time as the birth of your religion." Blossom rises and draws her sword, but the androids pay no heed, as one of them encircles Luca's neck.

"Sit the fuck down and shut the hell up until we tell you to speak... or all three of you die horribly." Three barks coarsely. Blossom growls and sheathes her weapon. "Good girl." Three says as she pushes Blossom to her knees, causing the weak wood to snap under the force and puncture her legs.

On her knees, Blossom eyes one of the androids in the corner, who seems to be playing with the baby. "S-Stop it! Let her go!" She yells out as Three punches her in the back of the head so hard it nearly causes her to black out, regardless of how much stronger than the average human she is. "I said shut up bitch!"

Still defying them, she speaks up again- "Why are you doing this?! WHY?! What have we done to you?!" Grasping her very skull, Three holds Blossom up to a charred mirror, causing Blossom to get a view of both herself and her assailant. "Your pretentious race continues to exist even when the heavens and hells deny you. Your disgusting people cling to barbaric traditions as you intend to fight divine powers using devices you don't even comprehend. Your very lives are why we do this!"

Three throws her back into the center of the shack, together with Luca. Stumbling to get right side up, she is pinned to the ground by another android as Three speaks. "At first, I wanted to kill you all because I simply didn't like you, but as I read your religious textbooks, learned of your histories... discovered your HOLY lineage, I realized you are all living on top of the sacrifices of people you don't even remember. The world is about to come to another end from the fiery depths below and you... Blossom; intend to fight it- am I wrong?"

"N-No, you are not... I will fight the darkness and... Save the w-world..." She says with almost no breath. "That's funny, because according to your religion, SHE is supposed to fight it!" Three yells holding the crying infant in the air by the cranium.

"STOP IT!" Luca yells out as another android approaches her. She does nothing but look at Three, who nods. She breaks into a toothy smile as she gently caresses Luca's cheek with malice in her eyes...

"Please... no..."

*CRACK!*

Her limp corpse falls next to Blossom, who goes speechless.

"Ah, now you obey... that's good, your death will be quick, and we will rid this entire world of your pestilence once and for all... you will thank us later..." Three says as she opens up her arm into an array of weapons.

The other androids also open up their arms and prepare to fire as Blossom's wrist device begins to shine.

"What the...?" Three yells as she backs away. She notices that Blossom's hair is not going gold, and she is in fact, unconscious. "What is this?!" One of the others lets out.

Blossom's entire being begins to shine as what looks like a large explosion fires all of the androids back several meters in a cloud of debris!

Standing in the dust of whatever the explosion was is a being none of them recognize, a silver being with a metallic face and a large grotesque wing. In one of it's arms, is the baby, still crying, but completely safe from the explosion only a few moments ago.

"I cannot let you do this any longer... It is time I interfere!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _The future is a scary place, no small part due to the past. But, you know. These things kind of happen. (Smallest Author's Note ever)_


	15. Barasian War 3: The Black Hearts Destroy

Chronometal Panic Sub-story  
The Barasian War  
Epilogue  
The Black Hearts Destroy

Recovering from whatever that explosion was, the androids stumble to their feet, but not without being battered to the ground again in what looks like another explosion!

As they constantly try to regain their footing, Three notices that the metallic being is actually causing the explosion! A being of such ferocious power seems too much for them at this time:

"We must fall back! Now!" She yells as she opens fire on the strange being. It doesn't even flinch, but Three gets an idea and begins to aim at the infant, causing the being to recoil and protect it, giving the Barasian enough time to fly away.

"Blossom, don't think you're safe- we will be back... and we WILL kill you! We promise!" She lets out in one last act of defiance.

After a short while, it kneels down and flips Blossom over. He touches her face and a soft blue aura permeates his hand. After a few short moments she begins to moan and wriggle. She opens her eyes to view the Baby in his hands and she quickly stumbles to her feet:

"LET HER GO!" She yells, brandishing her blade. The being merely hands the baby out as if it were an item to be traded, perhaps less. Blossom gently; yet quickly takes the baby and holds it in her arms, as it finally begins to stop crying. She looks down to Luca, a glazed look in her dead eyes.

She looks up to the being. Seemingly pure metal. It wears no clothing, yet has nothing apparent to hide. It has a large metal wing on its left side. It hangs, folded up as if it were an awning. His face is seemingly devoid of features, other than being completely metal. He has eyes, but they are pure and deep metal and lack pupils.

"Th... Thank you... but, who are you?" She asks with a mixture of thanks and suspicion. He bows graciously to Blossom. "I am but merely a servant, lady Blossom." His voice seems laden with what would seem like a mixture between sarcasm and haste.

"Does my savior have a name?" - "Briarus of Ark." - "That's... a strange name..." - "I am, how you would say... a strange person; no?" Blossom, seemingly agreeing with the logic drops the issue of his name and looks to Luca.

"Why did this happen? What are those demons? What do... what did they want?" Briarus pauses. He does not fidget, nor look around. It seems he just stares at Blossom in between his words. "I am not sure... but I am certain that we cannot let them continue this." - "I agree..." She states quickly, before walking out of the burned shack.

She turns to the castle before she is interrupted by Briarus. "You know you cannot fight the darkness." It lets out; knowledgeable of Blossom's motive of the coming millennia. "How do you..." - "I know many things, Blossom. I know of whom that baby is, I know what you plan to do in ten years... I am here to tell you that you cannot do that."

She snarls; "Thanks for your help, Briarus, but can you kindly depart? I have a kingdom to protect and a daughter to hide." - "Your kingdom will burn and your daughter will be slaughtered should you continue down this path, Blossom." - "Wh-What?" She sputters, turning around.

"It is her destiny to hold the world on her shoulders... but should she be barred from her destiny, and be mantled as a forgotten princess of the Earthly throne; the world will burn. Should you turn away from the demons, and your daughter be shunned from her birthright, all will know flames in the end."

She looks down to the baby in her arms. "But..." - "Blossom. I know of your love of your daughter. I have known the love of all the incarnations and their mothers before the days of the apocalypse. It all ends the same in the end, with or without their mother's protection." Blossom pauses, and looks to the corpse of Luca in the shack.

Blossom shakes her head and closes her eyes as she embraces her baby. "Luca said the same thing... she insisted that I share Blossom with the world... but..." She pauses again... "There has never been a savior this young before... those chosen into the next millennium were barred from copulating... but..." She stops as she views the baby in her arms.

Briarus walks toward her, but he lets off a gentle aura. "I have been with you all this time, Blossom." She looks up into his metallic eyes. He smiles as he disappears into a blue haze, and her wristband begins to glow!

"N-No... it can't be... are you...?" - "I am indeed the very essence of the Holy Artifact, Blossom." She merely gawks at her wristband. She begins to smile a small bit.

"Okay... I'll do as you say Briarus... I will show King Leon Blossom... the world will know she is the chosen one." - "That is most pleasing, lady Blossom... now, if you excuse me..." He says, as the energy of the device seems to fade.

"DAMN IT!" Eight yells, slamming her hand on a nearby steel table. "Who the hell was that?! He wasn't human! What is going on?" Three shakes her head. "I don't know... but he was stronger than any of us..."

"We HAD Blossom! With her dead we could just pick off the remaining humans for sport! But NO. Some iron asshole comes in and ruins EVERYTHING!" She rubs her arm. "And the holes that were punched into us are going to be a very large burden..." - "Yeah, we don't have any spare supplies... we can't even cover the exposed holes..." - "Well, we still have those robes from the town... we can use those to make some bandages..."

Ten and Twenty begin tearing robes to pieces and tying them to the open holes. They do not have blood, but exposed circuitry is a hazard, especially from moisture. Three begins to walk away, catching the eye of One-Fifty.

"Where are you going?" - "I'm going to form a battle plan." - "B... Battle plan?" She turns around with a terrifying presence around her, commanding all nearby androids to look at her.

"That machine was strong- but none of us were seriously injured. He wanted us to stop, he wanted the Baby to live, but everything he did was within very finite bonds. He barely had time to react to my attack on the infant. He has weaknesses- THEM!"

"Blossom and her child are both our target and our strategy! If we can get a hold on that baby- we can bring them all to their knees! This world will be ours, no matter what some iron freak has to say about it!" Several androids shuffle and cheer!

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" A roar is heard across the labyrinth!

It is Briarus!

"YOU!' Three yells out going into a battle position, as do her androids. "I thought you would save this world... not destroy it...!" - "What are you talking about?!" Three spits out.

"I protected you from the ages, and you repay the world with blood?" - "It's in our nature, if you stand in our way we will destroy you!" - "Pathetic beings! I will eradicate you all..." One-Fifty gets off of the wall she was slouching on, but does not retain a battle posture like the others.

"Why? Why must you kill us? Why do we all have to fight?!" Her words catch several Barasian off guard, and catch the eye of Briarus. "You said you protected us from the ages... why?" She asks timidly.

Briarus follows it without ever breaking his posture. "I felt that there... was a glorious soul within you androids long before you ever awoke... I thought you were the key to saving this world- I guess I was wrong." - "DEAD wrong! You fucked with the wrong machines today! The human race is ours for the taking!" Eight roars out, fangs bared.

One Fifty merely slumps her head down, confusing Briarus. "I..." He says reluctantly, before Three bolts for him, along with nearly a hundred other Barasian!

He flies backwards out of the cavern of Floor One and engages them in the jungle outside! He deflects their punches with his arms and wing, and their firearms seem to have little to no effect on him. He seems to successfully duel hundreds of them at once, before Three notices he is glowing blue.

"That glow..." She says before she stops attacking, others following her queue. "I've seen that before... on Blossom!" Briarus smirks maliciously.

"Can you put the pieces together, Barasian?" He hisses with a metallic toothy grin.

Kneeling down in the throne room, the King seems very displeased and seems to be fidgeting on his throne. He views the baby with mixed emotions in his eyes.

"I... see..." He pauses a great deal before continuing. "Blossom... what's done is done... we will adorn her... we will educate her, train her and protect her... until the day comes when we will need her..." Blossom stays silent as Leon views the infant.

"She will be... so young... by then..." He painstakingly says, before leaving the throne, and returning Blossom's baby. "That's exactly what I thought... that's why I've been hiding her until now..." Blossom says with reluctance and regret in her voice.

After a few moments of shocked silence, a voice is heard in the corner.

"Good, Blossom." Both Leon and Blossom bolt their vision to the source of the voice; it is Briarus, standing there with the same emotionless look in his face.

"Who is this?!" Leon yells as he brandishes his blade! Blossom puts her hand on his shoulder and shakes her head, as he notices Briarus isn't acting aggressively and takes Blossom's hint.

"Who are you?" He asks simply. Briarus bows graciously and says: "Briarus of Ark, at your service..." He rises and flashes his wing before putting it back into its original position.

"I have come to warn you all... the Barasian are uniting... tonight is a night none of you can afford to lose!" Blossom quickly gasps before regaining her composure and responding. "They are coming? To what end?!" - "They seek to destroy your kingdom and watch all of you burn."

Leon speaks up: "How can we protect our kingdom?!" - "Follow me into a holy battle." - "Holy battle? How many soldiers do you need?" - "At least two hundred... and Blossom."

"M-Me?" Blossom asks, surprised. "Yes, you... you will once again lead your men... this time into one final battle." - "Final battle? What do you mean?" As she asks, Briarus disappears from sight.

"Final battle..." She says to herself as King Leon leaves to the balcony to address the people. "You are going to rally the troops... yes?" - "Of course..." Leon states quickly. "You believe him?" - "You don't?" Leon responds, confused.

She shakes her head as a hand-maiden enters the room. "Handmaiden, take baby Blossom to her newly prepared chambers..." She bows graciously as the baby is gently turned over to the handmaiden and Blossom merely looks at her, as she seems to fade away.

Soon after she leaves sight and Blossom is suddenly left without her child... it is an odd feeling to have everything so neat and clean, even though she is now left with nothing... and now she is going into a 'final battle' of sorts...

"Has everything I've been doing been wrong...?"

Just outside the complex, hundreds of Barasian prepare for something.

"This being... Briarus is the reason we exist... or 'was' the reason we exist. Now he seeks to exterminate us. He is strong, but he is not strong enough to destroy us on his own. We have intelligence that he is gathering an army of Humans, as well as Blossom to attack us." Three addresses to the mob as it begins to rain.

She looks to the horizon: In it, she sees the outlines of castles and towers.

"These humans are the chosen ones of fate... not us." She rips the religious textbook and half and throws it into the mud as rain-water courses over her head and face.

"He will attempt to exterminate us... but we are stronger than anyone who has ever existed, or will ever exist can possibly know! We will not go quietly into the night! This world is ours, and we will prove it; NOW!" She roars as the Barasian shuffle and cheer!

She floats as the rest of them do the same!

"Some of you may die... I may die... hell, all of us could die- but I am not going to let some stuck up 'fate-jockey' decide who lives and who dies! We alone will fight for our right to live! A contract written with blood, the human's corpses being the parchment!"

As the rain picks up to a nearly blinding state, Leon says one last thing to the troops, as well as their general: Blossom.

"These beasts are beyond anything any of us have ever witnessed... but with the divine at our back we cannot fail! We will not go quietly into the night! This world is ours, and we will prove it; NOW!" He roars as the knights' shuffle and cheer!

Blossom marches into the rain toward the ruins of Petra, confident in her abilities, and those of her brothers. Outside the gates, Blossom gives a speech.

"Some of you may die... even I may die; but we must remember who we are fighting for! What we are fighting for! This world, our world, will be protected! Our blood may spill, but upon these demons it will go! Our holy blood will burn them and they will fall before us! We cannot fail with the angels watching over us!"

Merely a few hundred meters from each other. The armies stare each other down. Single beings from each group meet in the middle. Blossom and Three.

"Stop this demons... no-one has to die today!"  
"Sorry, but Briarus made it abundantly clear our existence cannot continue!"  
"If you stop... he may not want you all gone..."  
"Sorry, but either way, my people deserve a world of their own. A world without humans."  
"I see..."  
"Yeah... this world isn't big enough for the two of us."  
"We aren't going to go quietly. Defend yourselves!"

As Blossom says that, a blue aura permeates her and her army as a familiar being floats above the battlefield! It's Briarus! He addresses the entire battlefield:

"Being of flesh... beings of steel... hear my words. This battle will decide the fate of all those who have ever lived, and whoever will live after this day. If you humans fail this night, the world will know only fire!"

"Bullshit!" Three yells out at the top of her lungs!

"We know everything! Why don't you tell them all the truth, Briarus?! This entire religion, this 'evil being,' all of it is just a lie! Even the end of the world is nothing but a ruse to prevent 'IT' from escaping! We know everything!"

Briarus pauses before responding. "Even if we did tell them all the truth, what would be the difference?! If it were to escape, the entire world; no... the entire universe would be destroyed!"

"Just tell them the truth! That YOU and HIM are the reasons this world is like this in the first place!" She yells out!

"They will all learn in time, now is not that time!" Briarus yells out!

"Fine, suit yourself." She says as she returns to the Barasian. "This has been a long time coming." She says as she turns around and points her finger to the battle field.

"Attack..."

As she says that hundreds of Barasian fly off at once, causing Three's hair to bank and flutter constantly. She lowers her finger and hand as she watches the androids attack the humans.

Blossom parries and attacks several of them, before being knocked back!

"HYAAAA!" She roars as her hair glows a brilliant gold, illuminating the rainy battlefield! After the roar she charges and cleaves an android in half!

The mere sight causes Three's eyes to dilate! She rushes for Blossom, only to be intercepted by Briarus! "OUT OF MY FUCKING WAY!" She yells as she musters hidden power to send him flying at a supersonic speed! The mere action causes a sonic boom as Blossom eyes Three.

The pure hatred in her eyes is staggering, but it only serves to inflame Blossom's purpose... if she fails here, all she knows will be destroyed!

Blossom roars as she attempts to cleave Three only to have her catch it in between her hands, and have it ripped out of her grasp! She punches Blossom in the jaw strong enough to send teeth flying and blood spilling to the ground!

Three doesn't even give her the time to hit the mud as she attempts to pick up the sword, only to have it burn her hand! "What the Hell?!" She yells as she drops it in recoil!

Blossom rolls from her falling point to reclaim the sword and attempts to once again slice Three, but she dodges nimbly. "This sword cannot be used except by the Bloodline, demon!"

A thunderbolt illuminates the battlefield as Humans and Barasian litter the ground; red and black blood flooding the area.

Briarus causes multiple explosions at the scene, blowing androids away, before one of them notices something! "Briarus isn't causing explosions... he is moving faster that I could ever imagine!"

"You are right, Barasian... It is my Zero-Shift! Something that is beyond mortal comprehension!" - "Yeah, well we aren't mortal!" Three yells as she lunges for Briarus! He seemingly disappears, but now that Three knows what she is looking for, she can track his movements and what seems like- download it...!

Her eyes glow a faint blue color, as do all the other Barasian! After a mere instant, they are moving along the battlefield at speeds untraceable! Humans are being killed left and right and Blossom cannot see the attackers!

"NO!" Briarus yells as he extends more energy to the surrounding humans, seemingly slowing down the entire world!

Blossom can see the raindrops seemingly frozen in mid-air... through the frozen battlefield, Three lunges toward Blossom in blood-thirst! She extends a blade from her weapon arm and they duel for what seems like eons!

From an outside standpoint, the battlefield looks like a bunch of blue and black lights zipping across the battlefield as blood sprays in all directions! The storm picks up as tornados begin to sunder the battlefield!

"I WON'T LET YOU WIN!" Blossom roars as she deflects Three's light-speed attacks! Briarus takes several androids by the head and crushes them alive, letting them slump to the ground... seemingly suspended in mid-air to the light-speed combatants!

Human bodies also fly in the air as a mere twenty are left alive as the remaining fifty Barasian surround them! Briarus is also in the group, and from an outside standpoint, everything seems to stop...

All of the bodies hit the ground at once, and the tornados circle the battlefield. Thunder booms in the back-round and lightning flashes; blinding all those it sees.

Three holds her injured arm as she views Briarus and Blossom.

"Just... just give up... we have you out-numbered..." She says, huffing and panting. Before she knows it she is on her knees... and she cannot seem to rise up!

The humans in the field also fall to their knees... some merely slump to the ground; lifeless. "Zero shift..." Briarus merely mentions as he too begins to show weakness, his giant silver wing receding to a resting position.

Blossom is the only one who isn't incredibly weakened, and stands over everyone with her glorious golden hair. She takes her sword and walks to a Barasian, and executes her in front of everyone! Three growls and tries to rise to her feet, but she cannot find the strength!

Humans behind her seemingly die at the seems, their bodies overexerted as the blue glow from Briarus fades and he struggles to stand on his own! Blossom executes android after android as a morbid feeling hits Three's stomach.

The feelings of helplessness and sadness as those she love are killed in front of her. Before she knows it Blossom is standing over her. Golden haired, blue eyed, and with malice splaying across her face as a grizzly smile breaks through.

"Do it, Blossom... fucking kill me, like the animal I am!" Blade at her neck, Blossom pauses. She smirks a small bit as she removes the blade, causing confusion and anger to cross Three's face. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

She skips Three and continues to execute the other Barasian, all the while looking Three in the eyes! Three begins to tear up, but her weakness makes her unable to stand!

"WHY?! WHY ARE YOU LETTING ME LIVE?!" Three yells as tears fall down her face. Briarus looks upon Blossom with a strange feeling permeating his being...

"THIS IS FOR LUCA!" She says as she decapitates 55.  
"THIS IS FOR MY DAUGHTER!" She says as she kills 105.  
"THIS IS FOR ETCHUA!" She says as she executes 9.

She nears One-Fifty as Three begins to huff and growl. Blossom notices that she sees One-Fifty as different from the others, and looks upon her.

One-Fifty merely looks back, tears in her eyes and a quivering lip. She raises her sword to kill her, as a ear piercing scream is heard behind her!

"RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Three yells as she rises to her feet and the ground rumbles! Blossom looks back to see she has opened her hand to display her weapons!

She opens fire, but Blossom does not have the time to guard as a giant cannon shell pierces her heart!

Blossom stands in place as her hair fades from gold to red...

She falls to her knees and looks Briarus in the eyes... as he looks almost... disappointed... she says one last thing before she closes her eyes...

"Bloss... om..." She slips out as she collapses into the mud...

An eerie calm covers the battlefield as the rain begins to let up, and the only three people left alive are Briarus, One-Fifty and Three. Briarus rises to his feet as Three collapses to her knees once more.

"Do it... finish us, you fucker... we never had a chance at life with our fate..."

"Fate..." Briarus lets out. "There is such a thing, yet... mortals cannot perceive it..."

"We aren't mortal... you know that..." She snaps back, all strength leaving her being.

Briarus pauses, pondering the situation... "I thought that you would all save the world... then I thought you would all destroy it... but then... Blossom..."

"Blossom...?" Three spits out. "What about that tyrannical bitch?"

"She... turned away from the light... she abused her power... she killed some androids that they themselves have never killed a single human... why?"

"Because humans are scum..." She gags as she spits up artificial blood. Three faints and falls into the mud.

Briarus views her, and turns around to view One Fifty who is still in shock.

"What of you, kind Barasian?" - "K... Kind Barasian? There isn't such a thing..." - "Are you sure?" - "There aren't kind humans either... everything... everyone... we are all evil..." She says, tears coursing down her face.

During her sobs she seems to just... give up... she too; falls into the mud. Briarus is left alone, surrounding by the bodies of countless humans and androids... the only two left alive are unconscious... one saying humans are scum, the other saying everyone is scum.

"Perhaps... not even I know the real truth..." He says as he seems to fade away.

"The Barasian... the chosen ones of fate, have almost all fallen this day... only two remain... 150... and 3. There are two others that have yet to be activated... 2, and 101. Perhaps... any one of these could have been the force I felt all those years ago...

The Messiah... Until then, there is nothing we can do but wait for the coming millennia... it is there that whatever fate has in store will be unveiled, and even we... The Arks will have to fight for humanity... for the world... for all that live... perhaps... even the Barasian."

As he completely fades, light begins to hit the battle-field as the humans seem to fade away... floating toward the center of the world itself. The Barasian, merely stay in the battle field. Dead... dying... or forgotten...

Two... Three... One hundred one... One hundred fifty... these are the only Barasian left... what roles will they serve in the near future? None alive, not even the divine know that. All they can do... is pray...

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _And this is the end of the Barasian War. Told you it was gonna be short. Short, but exciting. Leaves a lot of important plot points to be called up later. Not much else to say. It was a hoot to write, but it was also easily the shortest of my stories._


	16. Chronometal Panic Alternate Ending

The Chronometal Panic  
Alternate Ending  
By Humanity, for Humanity

"That's enough." Dexter spits out. "I have stared into the eyes of angels and devils alike, seen and heard the end myself. This world won't just be lifeless: the world itself will die. This new malignancy seeks to end all life and destroy the very planet. To what end? I don't know. And that is why I am so scared of it. It is a mindless enemy that seeks nothing but death."

He walks to the door, opening it, but Blossom catches him before he leaves. "Wait!" She catches the ear of Bubbles, Buttercup and Dexter. "What is it?" Dexter asks, seeing if she wants to follow him on his quest.

"What if..." She lets out, almost uncertain of the very words leaving her mouth. A shade rises from Buttercup's shadow. "Yes, Leader girl? What is it?" It lets out, softly. She nods, almost comforted by Him. "What if, we give into the Military's demands... to an extent?" Dexter closes the door and walks toward Blossom. "Meaning?"

She looks up, relieved that this is being taken somewhat seriously. "Okay, now hear me out. What if we contact them of our own free will... and say we won't interfere in the Chronometal Affair." - "That's crazy! Humanity can't stop this alone!" - "Think about it... if we go out there, they will try to stop us, wasting their resources... if we stay here, they will have more manpower to use against Model M..."

Dexter ponders the situation as the Professor opens the basement door and enters the room himself. "That... doesn't sound like a half bad idea..." Everyone in the room is in thought except Bubbles. "It's not half bad, it's all great!" She yells. "That way, we can all be safe, and they won't think we are bad!" Dexter sighs...

"I... can't say I'm too sure about this..." Buttercup looks to Dexter and shrugs. He sighs again, but this time he rises with a smile. "I guess we can give it a try... for you, Blossom!" Blossom rises from the couch, relieved that this passing thought was put into surprisingly powerful fruition. The Professor heads back down the stairs. "I'll let the nearest base know we will have no part in this affair and we will stay out of it until they trust us enough to put us in it."

*A few hours later, a squad of Military men converges on the house, but none of them open fire. They waste no expense on completely making sure the house is under guard, attack helicopters, snipers, tanks; the whole.*

*A day passes, and more and more of the men are called away from guard duty, and put on the front line, until in three days, all of the soldiers are called away.*

"I guess that's it..." Blossom says. Bubbles walks into the room from upstairs. "Can we help yet?" - "Not yet, a sergeant visited earlier today, they said that they trust us enough to no longer have military personnel here at all times, but the Government is still very uneasy about us." Bubbles mopes back upstairs.

Buttercup walks into the room, plops onto the couch and turns on the TV. She flips through the channels, but eventually stops on the news... Blossom and Buttercup squint as they keep track of the news at hand...

*On the news, it is stated that the Justice League has been disbanded due to 'unknown circumstances.' The news eventually turns to a segment on the southern hemisphere, and the battle going on. It mentions that the battle is going well, but no details are given.*

*Another day passes and Dexter drops by.*

He walks into the house with a gloomy face, Blossom realizes that he isn't wearing Model D. "Where's your Chronometal?" She asks. He sighs and explains: "Well, with everything going on, and our house arrests, there's no real reason to have it on all the time..." Blossom shrugs. "I've forgotten what it feels like to not have mine on..." Dexter laughs a small bit. "Well, having a built in cleaner makes it irrelevant to take showers... but they still feel good, I've discovered."

*The two exchange small talk as if nothing in the world was wrong. People come and go... it seems as if everything is fine... until one day...*

*Now seven days into their 'surrendering' to Humanity, they flip the news on, and this time it seems as if a shroud has been lifted from their eyes, and they are looking into the face of truth!*

"Mexico has been evacuated to the northern states as this new enemy continues its assault with a newfound vigor." Blossom and Dexter watch the news alone, everyone else doing their own things. "Is this... is this real?" Blossom asks, shocked. Dexter says nothing, face buried in his hand. "D...Dexter?" He raises his head, avoiding her questions to focus on the news.

"The men and women of the United States Military assure us that they will never let these beasts reach the states. We give our best wishes to you brave souls!" He rises from the couch and nears the door, Buttercup and Bubbles entering the room. "Where are you going?" Blossom asks. "I have a Chronometal to put back on... I knew this was all too good to be true...!" He says angrily as he leaves sight.

Listening to the news, Bubbles seems to tremble, before walking up the stairs silently. Him rises from Buttercup's shadow and addresses the group. "This is... unfortunate, isn't it?" - "Shut up Him, we have a job to do." Buttercup snaps. "Of course, my Buttercup... your wish is my command..." - "I told you to stop saying that! You are not a genie!" Buttercup nears the door, getting ready to follow Dexter, before she is interrupted by Blossom.

"Buttercup... can I talk to Him when you go?" A short pause crosses them before she sighs. "Whatever, I don't care anymore. Come back in about an hour, Him." She says as her dress turns from brown to green. She leaves the house, with Him still in it. Blossom turns off the TV and looks at him.

"You know... I never asked before, but why are you doing this for Buttercup?" - "Doing what?" - "You know what..." Him re-materializes his legs and sits on the couch alongside Blossom. A view that no-one alive would expect to see if it wasn't for these wars.

"It's not a long story, per say... but it is a complex one... actually- it's very simple..." - "If it's short and simple, why don't you spit it out?" He shrugs and laughs deviously. "After you got your Chronometal during the beginning of the second major war, Buttercup grew jealous of your power... and she came to me for power."

"That's it?" - "Well, isn't that what you wanted to know?" - "No, I know you are giving her power, but why are you giving it to her?" - "She asked nicely..." - "Nice try, but seriously. Why, Him?" - "Why is this important?" - "Because I feel if I don't know now, I never will." Him pauses at her words and breaks into a toothy smile.

"Very well, but be warned... it's not a pretty story, nor does it have a happy ending... for her, anyway." - "For... her?! What do you mean?!" He raises a claw to keep her from talking and he rises from the couch and beckons her outside.

*A few minutes pass, and they find themselves on the roof, right above their room.*

"A few days after you got Model B, an android kidnapped Bubbles and threatened to kill her if Buttercup didn't pledge fealty to the Knights." - "Threatened to kill her? With what?" - "Antidote X." Blossom gulps, knowing exactly what that could do to any of them... "Wait... why didn't I know about this?" - "This was when they headed to Townsville after the First War." - "Oh, yeah... come to think of it, the next I saw them, was when World's End was being constructed above Megaville, I never had any time to ask what was going on with her clothing."

She continues. "So, Buttercup stopped the android I assume?" - "Well... with my help." - "Oh... I see." A short pause crosses them. "Well... why did you help her?" - "Oh, I was so happy to see them returning to Townsville that I gave them a freebie." - "How unlike you..." Him laughs.

"Well after that, Bubbles went on her way after a hesitant 'thank you,' but Buttercup stayed and asked a question not unlike your own. Why did I indeed help her? Well, I just wanted to throw my hat into this Chronometal battle myself; I was bored doing evil in small ways in a town in the middle of nowhere..."

He continues. "One conversation led to another and she grew almost 'comfortable' around me, it was a very strange feeling I might add. She eventually asked me to help them stop these wars. I was skeptical of course, I am a source of ultimate evil... and I have to be compensated as such." - "Compensated...?! Is that what this is all about?!" Blossom yells out, hostile.

Him shakes his head. "She was desperate, she was sure that these wars would spiral out of control... and behold at the situation that was born of the Second War's end." Blossom looks away in remembrance. "She thought... or maybe even KNEW that something horrible was going to happen... so she made a little deal with me." Blossom gulps as color leaves her face, she almost knows what he is about to say.

He removes his smile and goes into an almost aggressive stance, one she has never seen him adopt throughout these entire wars.

"I grant her a fraction of my power to make her Immortal forever." - "Forever?" - "Until Model M no longer threatens her sisters, and by proxy- the world... she will be immortal by my hand. And in exchange..."

"Once it is all over... once Model M can no longer harm anyone... her soul will join me in eternal servitude." - "N-No... I can't... I mean... Buttercup, what have you done..."

A wrenching silence crosses them.

"Whether or not the world manages to destroy Model M, she will know nothing but sorrow in the end." - "HOW THE FUCK DID YOU MANAGE TO MAKE HER AGREE TO THAT?!" - "It was not my idea..."

Blossom mind goes blank as her stomach drops. "Wh... what...?" - "She came to me with the deal... I grant her the power to save her sisters... she grants me her soul willingly... All living things eventually come to me in the end, but a blood bond is worth infinitely more... and a superhero, pledging a blood oath to me? I could not turn it down... so here we are, Blossom."

Blossom falls to her knees and almost cries. Him doesn't bother trying to comfort her. "What now..." She asks, catching him off guard. "What do you mean?" - "We have run out of waiting time... we are going to be over-run... what can we do?" Him pauses. "Is there anything we could have done to prevent this?"

Him kneels down to her level, still without a comforting face. "Fight. That's all that is left."

*Without any zeal left in her, Blossom still goes into the battle against Model M. Days pass before humanity is pushed to the cold north... where they prepare to make their last stand.*

"Sir, they are coming soon, is the pod ready?" - "Yes... just about..." He somberly states as he closes it and welds it shut. The men in the tent are shivering and depressed. The tent is blowing in the harsh arctic wind. He hands the pod to the Private who salutes and exits the tent.

As he leaves he is confronted by Buttercup. "Is that it?" - "Yes, Ms. Buttercup." She takes it and nods to the man who runs off elsewhere. She floats up slowly, almost blinded by the Blizzard, but she can hear them approaching. She flies away from the camp, and away from the impending war with the pod in her hands... she approaches the North Pole alone...

Bubbles flies into the camp, catching Blossom in conversation. "Oh, Bubbles... where is he...?" She shakes her head, shivering... "Wh... what...?" It is almost impossible to tell if she is crying in this blinding wind, but when she looks Blossom in the eye that is all she needs to know.

"... ... ... I see..." She says plainly. "But..." - "It's... fine... this is our last stand, all we can do is hope Buttercup can protect the Pod when we are gone..." Bubbles collapses on the ground and begins to cry, which some of the soldiers see.

The noises of the approaching death storm is nearer, they have less than ten minutes before the final battle begins.

Blossom somberly patrols the camp, and talks to the men inside before someone catches her eye. "Is that... you...? Barasia?!" She slowly approaches Blossom with an emotion she has never shown before surrounding her body: Sadness...

"Hey, Blossom..." - "What's... wrong?" She looks up with artificial tears in her eyes. "What isn't wrong? Everyone is either dead or going to be... there is nothing left but to fight a pointless fight..." She says before turning her back on Blossom. Blossom can tell that Barasia has lost someone dear to her, but she has no idea who.

As she begins to walk away she asks... "This is our last day... can you tell me what happened...?" Barasia snickers at her words. "I don't know what good it will do, but fine... Ruby is dead, Blossom." Blossom recoils, remembering Ruby, the girl in the first war that Barasia saved from certain death.

"What about... her mother?" She shakes her head. "She died far before she did... I was actually..." She laughs a little again... "I was trying to take over her part for a while before this all happened. I thought that I could be a good mother for Ruby... but now look... she didn't even know my real name before she died...! SHE DOESN'T KNOW THIS WAS ALL MY FAULT!" She roars out! She collapses on the ground.

Blossom comforts her as the noises of the oncoming onslaught get louder and louder, only a few moments remain until the final battle...

* * *

"I guess that's it." Buttercup says, underwater with the pod safely in place in an undersea bunker. Him floats over her, noticing she is hurt inside. "It's all we can do, Buttercup..." - "I... know..." She says, merely looking at the bunker. "Let's get back to the camp, and give these bastards a fight they will never forget..."

They fly out of the Arctic Ocean and to the camp, which is already in mid battle.

The pod will remain for thousands... maybe hundreds of thousands of years... it contains within it all information Man has ever gathered. If something or someone comes across it they will learn of the achievements... and mistakes of Humanity.

It is all they will have left when Model M is done with this world, Buttercup and Him will remain even if all others fall, they will fight Model M and attempt to keep the world alive for as long as they draw breath.

The never ending war has begun, in which there will be no victor... this is the world wrought of Model M... This is all that is left.

The world has ended, all they can do is dream now...

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** _I originally planned 2 Alternate Endings for The Panic during the creation process, but the second one turned into one of the very few times I scrap entire segments. Most of the time I just touch things up and submit them anyway, or just rewrite them a bit, but that second ending just wasn't turning out right, and I never finished it, scrapped what was worked on. It was essentially supposed to cover Naga and Blossom on the moon, an Alternate Ending not too dissimilar to this one, focusing on another middle path where, instead of staying still- like here, Blossom would run away, never to be seen again, until she is found by Naga on the moon. I scrapped the part mostly because I didn't, and still don't truly understand Naga as a character. I would leave that to Beeare to explain exactly what that guy's angle is._

 _But I digress. This Alternate Ending takes place near the end of Chapter 2, like where all of the tangents split, instead this happened. It's a very cold and lifeless part that explains the horrible possibilities should the heroes choose inaction instead of action. As Otto once said, "Tragedy is the only certainty."_


End file.
